The Dragon Boarder Returns
by Dustnblood
Summary: Matt Haddock was going about his usual business with getting ready for the ski season to begin. Just as he is doing so he gets a visit from an old friend and is requested to go back and help Berk and his ancestor Hiccup. A sequel to The Dragon Boarder. Rated T to be safe
1. Chapter 1

**We return with the sequel to The Dragon Boarder. This story runs completely off of the last story, so I STRONGLY recommend reading that one before. Go ahead and review the old story as well! As usual, enjoy.**

The Dragon Boarder Reunited

Chapter One: A Familiar Face

"Hey Sarah!" Matt yelled, pulling open a drawer "Where's my screwdriver? You had it last!" Turning around, Matt angrily eyed all the snowboards that didn't have bindings on yet. Three days until the season opened and he barely got his boards in his shop, he was way behind schedule.

Dressed in a flannel shirt and wearing snowboard pants, the young Matt Haddock still looked about the same as he was when he was 16.

"I left it on the chair…" Sarah's voice shouted back.

"That narrows it down…" Matt shouted sarcastically.

"The one that swivels! Your favorite one!" Sarah replied, unfazed by the sarcasm.

Looking behind the counter, Matt saw the screwdriver. Cursing silently so Sarah wouldn't hear, Matt quickly grabbed it and the partially completed board. Tightening the screws, he suddenly put himself in a flashback. Almost 6 years ago, he was busy putting bindings not on a board, but a saddle. A shrewdly made saddle, but a saddle nonetheless. Easing up on the tension of one of the screws, Matt kept on thinking when he strapped the saddle. He remembered the feeling he had, the anxiousness, the excitement, the terrifying experience. Saddling his dragon Wasatch, a Skrill for the first time.

It wasn't long before he finished tightening the bindings on the board. Racking it on the shelf next to him, Matt walked to the front of his store. Sarah and Trent were both sitting at the counter waiting laughing at some joke. Smiling, Matt walked up and lightly shoved Sarah, causing her to take a step back. "Thanks for putting away your tools. You know, you've caused me more stress than when I first opened up Strike Class Boards."

Laughing more, Sarah pushed Matt back saying "You really need to loosen up! You're acting like a businessman or something.

"Well…I own this store and I'm unable to board as much as I'd like to…so yeah, I guess I am a businessman." Matt smirked back.

"We all know that's not true Matt" Trent said with a smile "you're a boarder at heart and will always be so."

Smiling, Matt walked with a more noticeable limp, to a light switch and began to flip the lights off. "Thanks Trent…Been a little hard since I…since the doctor told me that I can't be on my leg as much anymore."

"We noticed Matt…just remember we're here for you." Sarah said with a somber attitude.

Smiling at his friends, Matt said "Alright, you guys get out of here. I can finish up the rest of the boards tomorrow so don't bother coming back. I'll see you when the season opens up."

Walking over, Sarah hugged Matt. Returning the hug, Matt then walked her and Trent out the door.

"Hey drive safely will ya? Supposed to snow a little down in Cedar City." Matt said.

"Don't worry Matt! I made this trip at 3 in the morning in a storm…Not going to be a problem." Trent said, getting into his Subaru.

"I'll make sure he'll get home safely" Sarah teased, getting in the passenger seat.

Watching his friends pull out of the small parking lot and drive away, Matt took a look at the Alpine Heights Ski Resort, all lit up as if it was opening night. Though the season wasn't open yet, the ski patrol and staff members were still prepping the slopes and courses. It was because of this place that his life changed forever. It was then he found a cave to take shelter in, to survive a storm. That cave led him to where he met his ancestor Hiccup at his native island Berk. Matt tried for the longest time to figure out how he went back in time, but he shrugged it off a few years back with the conclusion that it was a gift given to him my some unknown power. Hiccup, though his ancestor, became his best friend. He remembered the first time he met Hiccup and Astrid was when they chased him off a cliff! Laughing to himself, Matt quickly closed and locked the door. Only having the small security light giving him the little visibility he had, he started to walk up some stairs.

Reaching the top, Matt flipped on a light to reveal a small one bedroom apartment. His futon couch was his bed as well as his dining table. The cupboards and kitchen appliance made the room feel smaller as well. Though small and usually cramped, it was more than enough for him. Going to Pandora, Matt started to play some Linkin Park. Matt then opened a can of chili and threw it into his little microwave.

Letting his food cook, he finally sat down to rest his leg. He immediately went to where he left off with his memory. After he officially met Hiccup, Matt's life was changed from then on. He never intended to train a dragon, just kind of…fell into his life. He remembered when he was captured by Alvin and was taken away to Outcast Island, held as a hostage to try and get Hiccup and learn how to fly dragons. That was where he met Wasatch. First meant to kill Matt, the Skrill ended up being his trained dragon and ultimately saved his life. That was where he ended up fighting Alvin, falling from the sky, and almost losing his leg. Alvin cut it so deep that he did permanent damage. That is why Matt walked with a slight limp. When he healed, he kept on snowboarding, thinking that he could do what he had before. Only of recent was he told by his doctor that Matt was putting too much stress on the leg and would be beneficial if he laid off of it this season.

Hearing the microwave beep brought Matt back to the present. Smelling the hot chili suddenly made him hungrier than he probably was. Grabbing the can and a spoon, Matt began to shovel the chili in his mouth. Looking through his window to the ski resort, Matt smiled at the memories he had. That was almost 6 years ago. Now he was 22 and owned his own board shop. Even though he hated to admit it, his leg being injured was a blessing to him.

Sitting on the futon, Matt said out load "Xbox on." A distinct bing sounded and Matt saw his Xbox come to life. Smiling, Matt picked up the controller and went to Netflix. As he selected his show, he heard a pounding at the door downstairs. Confused, Matt turned off the TV and listened closer.

Bam bam bam bam bam. "Yeah!" He thought "Someone's definitely down there."

Putting his food down, Matt jogged to the stairs. The doctor urged him not to do too much more on his leg, not stay off of it like it was a fragile stick.

Finally getting to the door, he heard the pounding again. Even though it was a glass door, the posters and advertisements he taped to it blocked his view. A little concerned, Matt slowly reached for the door, shouting "Ok, ok, ok, I'm getting the door! Ease up a little will ya?"

Turning the deadbolt slowly, Matt breathed heavy and then swung the door open. What he saw almost knocked him down. There in front of him was an oh so familiar face

"Matt! Is that you!?"

"Wait…is that you Astrid!?" Matt gasped. Even though she was bigger, taller, and a dressed differently from when he last saw her, he could tell that it was Astrid!

Throwing her arms around his neck and squeezing him in a big hug, Astrid shouted "Oh I can't believe that I found you! Thank the Gods!"

"Astrid…how did…what are…how are you…WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Matt shouted in confusion, pulling her inside and locking the door.

"It's bad Matt…Berk's been captured, everyone's a prisoner, I don't know what to-"

"Astrid." Matt said, grasping and shaking her lightly. "Start from the beginning. No. Wait. Come with me." Almost immediately he dragged her up to his small bedroom. Halfway up the stairs Astrid collapsed to which Matt promptly shouldered her and carried her the rest of the way.

Sitting her on his futon, he handed her his can of chili. "Eat it." He said gruffly. After she took the can, Matt went to the stove and began boiling some water and threw another can of chili in the microwave.

Grabbing a stool, he quickly sat himself in front of Astrid and said "Ok, now start from the beginning. Start when you woke up for all I care!"

Shivering a little, Astrid looked up at Matt and said "Berk was invaded by a tribe called the Berserkers. They're led by a man named Dagur."

"Worse than Alvin?" Matt asked.

"Alvin doesn't even compare to Dagur!" Astrid exclaimed "Dagur can't hear reason! He's insane!" with that she finished eating what was left of the chili.

"Great…" Matt groaned, sitting back a little bit on his stool.

"We thought he was dead, but…" Astrid trailed off.

"So…how did you get here?" Matt asked, getting up to grab the other can he put in the microwave.

"Let me get to that point." Astrid said, sitting back on the futon. "When the Berserker's attacked, they hit us hard! They had three times the fleet than what we remembered and they quickly caught Hiccup!"

"And Toothless?" Matt asked, handing her the new can of chili and taking the old one.

"Knocked out of the sky with Hiccup but was able to knock down a few Berserker's and get away." Astrid said, who began to wolf down the chili.

Grabbing the boiling pot of water, Matt began to make a hot chocolate for her and him. "So I still don't get it. Why did you come here? More importantly, how did you get here?"

"Stormfly and the other dragons were captured as well…" Astrid's voice trailed off a little. "I was fighting to try and free Stormfly when I heard Hiccup shout at me to 'Go hide Toothless! Go get help!'."

"Wait…why did he want to hide Toothless?" Matt asked, sipping his drink.

Astrid, who had finished the can of chili, said. "Dagur wants him. He wants to use Toothless as a weapon and a symbol of their power."

Matt didn't say anything. This was not in his family's history book.

"I didn't have time to learn how to fly Toothless's tail, and I was being chased by three other Berserkers!" Astrid said "I couldn't go to Outcast Island to get help, so I immediately thought of you."

"Wait. Why on earth would you want to go to Outcast Island?" Matt asked in awe and shock.

Astrid didn't say anything for a second, and then continued "Alvin saved Berk Matt…He saved Hiccup and Toothless. He's an ally."

"He almost killed me!" Matt roared "He almost killed Hiccup and Toothless! Don't you remember when I was at Berk!?"

"Of course I remember!" Astrid said defensively.

"Astrid! I can't snowboard anymore because of him! He took away that which was most dear to me!" Matt shouted even more.

"Well you know what Matt!?" Astrid replied standing up "You've been gone for 6 years! 6 years! That's a long time and a lot's changed!"

Matt stared at Astrid, still fuming about Alvin being an ally, but he knew that this wasn't going to help Hiccup or Astrid. "Listen. I understand that…and for the sake of what's going on, I'll pass up on this subject."

"Good." Astrid said, sitting down and grabbing her drink.

"So…Hiccup told you to leave. Hide. What happened then?" Matt asked.

"Well, I told you that I was chased by three other Berserker's. The rest of the Berserker's were busy securing the dragons and warriors."

"And?" Matt edged in.

"I gave them the slip" Astrid replied simply "Toothless and I went to your cave and that's where I saw that it was open. Toothless is still hiding there. I came down that mountain and when I got to the bottom, saw the sign on your building. The Strike Class symbol."

Everything clicked in Matt's head at that moment. That's how Astrid was able to find him! Soaking this in, a thought then occurred to him. "Wait. The cave was open!?"

Astrid stared at him and nodded, like 'duh Matt…that's how I got here!'

"I tried going to that cave every year for the last six years, and nothing has come of it. I can't believe it!" Matt said ecstatically. Walking back and forth, Matt suddenly thought of something. "Wait…is Wasatch still there? Is my dragon safe?"

Astrid looked at Matt in the eye with sadness and said "Matt…Wasatch left Berk a few months after you left. We guessed he just got tired of waiting."

Matt nodded. Staring at what was left of his drink, Matt quietly replied "I guess 6 years is a long time. I hope he's ok…"

Astrid slightly chuckled and added "Having dealt with a wild Skrill, I'd say he's more than ok."

Smiling, Matt then piped in "Its good to see you Astrid! I wish it was on better terms, but it's still good to see you."

Smiling broader now, Astrid replied "Likewise Matt. It seems you have a knack for trouble!"

"You mean trouble finding me." Matt threw back, grabbing Astrid's empty mug. "I seem to only find trouble wherever I go."

"So…this is where you live?" Astrid asked looking around.

"Well…for the winter. I live with my parents during the summer since business is usually slow during the summer." Matt said, putting the mugs in the sink. Walking to a closet, Matt began to pull out his snowboard gear and coat.

"Ah, well I guess I don't have to beg you to come back with me then huh?" Astrid said walking towards Matt.

"I kinda assumed as much when you decided to show up here at my shop." Matt replied with a smile "Besides, can't turn away the sight of a helpless little girl."

Wham! Suddenly Matt's arm lit up with pain. Gripping his shoulder, Matt turned to see Astrid staring at him, as if daring him to say it again. "Ah, I see you never got over the 'hit first, ask later' mentality." He groaned, rubbing his arm.

"Only when I need to." Astrid replied with a smile. Then batting her eyes joked "I have to since I'm a helpless girl."

"Remind me to NEVER joke with you…" Matt said finishing rubbing his shoulder. Grabbing his backpack, Matt began to load it with some food and other survival gear. He learned to always carry basic items to survive since the last time he went to Berk. After packing everything and strapping his board to his backpack, Matt went to a desk he had and pulled out a box and opened it. Astrid looked over his shoulder to see what it was. It was a handle with two small metal nubs at the end of it.

"What is that?" she asked quizzically, staring at the object in Matt's hand.

"I bought it shortly after I came home." Matt replied. Turning to Astrid, he held it in front of her and pushed a button. Astrid saw electricity shooting across each nub.

Putting it in his backpack, Matt continued "It's called a Taser, it shoots jolts of electricity into whatever it touches."

"You got that for Wasatch didn't you?" Astrid stated.

"Yup…and now for anyone who gets in our way." Matt said, zipping up his bag. Turning to Astrid, Matt smiled and said "Well…let's go get Hiccup back then eh?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Over My Shoulder and Through the Cave to Dagur's Place We Go**

*Beep beep *Beep beep *Beep beep

Matt's phone alarm went off, to which he quickly silenced the annoying sound. Even though he agreed with Astrid to get some rest before they went to the cave and eventually back to Berk, he had barely slept at all. Sleep was the last thing on Matt's mind. With Astrid in his world and hearing that Hiccup was in trouble, he couldn't help but feel anxious. Not to mention the fact that he might be able to get back to Berk and ultimately fly dragons again.

Getting up, he looked at the phone with a bright 4:00 a.m. on it. "That gave her 5 hours of needed rest…" Matt thought as he rolled up onto his feet. Stretching a little, Matt heard his back pop. The floor wasn't as comfy as he tried to make it be. Walking to the futon, Matt gently shook the sleeping body. Stirring, Astrid looked up at him.

"Already time?" She whispered extending her hand out.

"Yeah, come on." Matt urged, grabbing her hand and helping her up "We got a lot of ground to cover."

"Don't worry about me. I feel refreshed and ready to kick Dagur's butt." Astrid said with a smile, putting on her fur coat.

"I'll let you do that." Matt smiled back, shouldering his backpack and started limping towards the stairs. Hanging on the door handle that led downstairs was his goggles. Grabbing them, he quickly slid them on his head.

"Is your leg worse?" Astrid asked, following closely "I didn't notice your limp as much last night…"

"It bugs me when I wake up, but if I walk on it for little bit I'll be fine." Matt said, brushing off the comment. Finally getting downstairs and near the door, Matt reached at the counter and pulled a few Clif Bars. Handing one to Astrid, Matt pocketed the rest to save for later. "Good for quick energy" He said smiling.

"Great! I'll definitely take that then." Astrid said, trying to open the wrapper.

After relocking the door, Matt turned to see Astrid furiously attacking the wrapper that wouldn't come off. Laughing, Matt grabbed the bar and tore the corner off. Handing it back to her he said "There…that way you'll have something left to eat."

Scowling at him, Astrid took the open wrapper and began to snack on the bar.

Walking up the mountain wasn't as difficult as he remembered, but Matt then thought maybe this time it was because he had a more intense reason to get to the cave. His black snowboard coat and pants made him almost invisible in the dark. If it wasn't for his snowboard which was colored green and white, he was sure he could lose Astrid if he got far enough.

"So…how old are you now?" Astrid asked, walking next to Matt.

"22." Matt replied "Still feel like I'm 16 though…"

"Still a kid then huh?" Astrid teased.

"Yup!" Matt smiled. Turning to Astrid he asked "How about you? How old are you and Hiccup?"

"He's 21, I'm almost 21." Astrid said returning a look back. "Two more weeks and it's my birthday."

"No kidding?" Matt said with a wider smile "Well…if we end up saving Berk, consider it your birthday present."

"Gee. Thanks." Astrid said rolling her eyes, trying to hide the smile.

"Oh hey!" Matt asked excitedly "Is Snotlout still hitting on you?"

The reply was a punch to the arm and deadly glare from Astrid. "Not anymore, and I plan on keeping it that way. Don't give him ANY ideas…" She warned.

"Got it! Got it…" Matt quickly said, returning his attention to what was ahead of him.

Getting to the top of the mountain was relatively quick. Having someone to talk to made it a lot easier to hike and passed the time. As they neared the top, Matt stopped and pointed to a direction that they needed to go. Whispering, Matt said: "Ok, it's only ten minutes from here, we should tread lightly in case anyone did follow you here or us on the way up."

Nodding, Astrid crouched to sneak around a little better. Following suit, Matt also pulled up his hood to make him less visible. As they made their way to the cave, he couldn't help but go into flashbacks of when he was snowboarding down this side of the mountain. It was impossible to forget the feeling he had when he took shelter from a storm in that cave.

Even though they took their time, Matt and Astrid got there relatively quick and had no events. Walking into the cave made Matt close his eyes for a second to reminisce. After standing there, he opened his eyes and saw the cave had indeed opened up. Astrid was already heading in, pulling something from behind a rock as she did so. As Matt moved closer, he saw that it was her battle-axe. "Ah. I was wondering where you put that…" Matt said sarcastically.

"Well, I did come from a battle didn't I?" Astrid smiled, shouldering the axe.

Returning the smile, Matt pulled out his flashlight and shone it into the cave. It was just like how he remembered it, rocky and almost impassable. Guiding Astrid over the rocky course, he asked "How did you get through here? Did you have a torch?"

"A lot of tripping and some crawling." Astrid replied, sliding over a rock. "Felt like ages before I got to the other end."

Laughing, Matt teased "Well, technically it was 'ages'. You showed up a 1000 years later!"

"Oh you're so funny." Astrid replied, visibly rolling her eyes.

Seeing the exit, Matt shut off his light. Crouched, he silently walked to the edge and felt the cold wind blow past him as he emerged out of the mouth of the cave. Below he could see the village lights of Berk and the massive ocean that expanded past all eyesight. It reminded him of when he said goodbye to Wasatch and all his friends.

"Beautiful isn't it." Astrid whispered, looking at the view.

"It is…just like last time I was here." Matt whispered. Chuckling, he added "And this time I'm not going to be chased off a cliff!"

"We'll see about that." Astrid grinned mischievously, making Matt have second thoughts.

Turning around, Matt was shocked to see two massive eyes staring at him. "What the!?" he said loudly, falling onto his back.

"Toothless!" Astrid shouted, running to him and grabbing the dragon's neck.

"Good crap!" Matt breathed loudly in relief "I forgot you said he was up here too…" Picking himself up, Matt walked over to the black dragon. "Remember me bud?" Matt whispered, holding out his hand.

Sniffing the extended hand, Toothless immediately licked it and then tackled Matt.

"Oooofff!" Matt groaned as Toothless licked his face "It's good to see you too bud!"

Getting the dragon off of him Matt stood up and saw that the wall was closed in the cave again. "Oh come on…for the love of…" Matt whined "Already? It's closed already!?"

"Well…it's a good thing we came when we did." Astrid said, staring at the wall. Turning to the village, she said "It might be better to keep moving, the sun is going to be up and I have a feeling Dagur isn't going to be patient with anyone when he learns that his men didn't get Toothless."

"Great…we're on a time table, and we still don't have a plan." Matt said, walking to the edge.

"Well…maybe it'll be good to do a little scouting work. If we can see where they're keeping our dragons, we might be able to get them out before they know we're here." Astrid said, starting to slide down the mountain. Matt quickly followed, with Toothless behind him.

After an hour of crawling in the snow, the three appeared above Berk. Sitting next to a boulder, they scanned the village. After a few moments of silence, Astrid whispered "I don't see anything! Other than guards patrolling everywhere."

The sun was starting to crest over the ocean, giving a brilliant glow to the mountain behind them. Matt was staring at the snow covered village, whispering "I really wish I could see this place in the summer. I mean really, I keep on coming during the bad months."

"And bad times." Astrid added, still scanning the village.

Toothless moaned a little and fidgeted towards a direction. Matt and Astrid quickly looked to see where Toothless was facing. Walking up the main road of the village was Dagur and Hiccup with his hand's tied behind his back. Following them were all the other dragon riders, tied in a similar fashion and being escorted by Berserker guards.

"Well…" Matt muttered "Hiccup has gotten bigger!" Looking at the line of prisoners "I guess we know where they are now."

"And we know that Hiccup and the others are alive! But where are our dragons!?" Astrid asked angrily, frantically scanning the village again.

Pulling Astrid down a little, Matt whispered "Think Astrid…where would you put the dragons that were trained by all of the best trainers?"

"Not the hangar…" Astrid replied, staring at the ground "That would be too easy to infiltrate and really tough to defend specific dragons. It would have to be the arena then…It's easy to defend and incredibly hard to sneak in or out."

Satisfied with Astrid's thought, Matt looked at where Hiccup and Dagur were going. "I'd guess that they're going to be there as well."

"Great" Astrid huffed, sliding behind the boulder and gripping her axe "Even if I could fly Toothless and you had Wasatch, we could never get to them without letting the Berserkers know we were coming."

Looking at the arena, then to Hiccup, and then the guards; Matt had a plan evolve in his head. Sliding behind the rock with Astrid, he began to say "I'm not much of a strategist, but we do have one advantage."

"And that is?" Astrid said, rolling her eyes.

"Me." Matt replied simply "They don't know about me…do they?"

"Oh great… we have someone that doesn't know how to swing a sword. Yep Matt, you're right on! They're definitely at a disadvantage. They have armies, armadas, and now hostages; but we have you." Astrid breathed loudly.

Brushing aside some of the things that stung a little, Matt grinned "Yup. And more importantly, I have you."

Curiously, Astrid looked at Matt which turned into a grin. "You have a plan don't you; Matt Haddock, you came up with a plan!"

"Give me some credit!" Matt said defensively, sounding hurt "I came up with a few of them last time I was here!" then turning his head a little, he added "Some did fail I'll admit." Returning to the task at hand, Matt pointed to a lone guard about 400 yards away. "All I need is help getting that guys armor. More importantly the helmet."

"Already on it." Astrid said, crawling in the snow.

As Matt laid down in the snow to follow, he whispered to Toothless "Stay here boy…get ready to come help us when we walk into the arena."

Almost nodding, Toothless laid down even lower to conceal himself. Matt was amazed at the intelligence of the dragon, able to understand what he was saying and more importantly obey what he asked. "Guess I need to get re-exposed to them…" he muttered.

Astrid quickly made her way to another boulder next to the village, and then peered around the corner to see if there were any guards. Matt quickly slid next to her, trusting in her call to move to the building that was closest.

"Ok, we move on three…" Astrid whispered. Matt nodded to let her know he was with her. The butterflies were coming back again, been awhile since Matt had that feeling. Astrid then started to count off: "One…Two…Three!" She immediately sprinted across the small opening and slid behind the building. Matt was shortly with her, also sliding.

Checking to make sure they weren't spotted, Astrid then went to the other corner of the building. "There's your guard." Astrid said, peering barely out of the corner "Tell you what, you be a distraction in getting him over here, and I'll take care of the rest."

"Doesn't sound like I have much choice do I" Matt whispered back. The butterflies were flying in his stomach like crazy, he hated having a plan depend on him.

Astrid didn't even respond, because she was busy climbing the side of the house. When she reached a point to where she was hanging from a window; she nodded to Matt, telling him to get the guard to come.

Breathing loudly, trying to slow down his heart, Matt laid in the snow and began to moan loudly. "Oh…my leg! Someone help!"

"Who's there?" a voice sounded.

"Please help!" Matt moaned. Sweat was dripping off his face. He hoped that only one guard would come.

"Hold on I'm coming!" The guard's voice sounded as he neared the corner "How did you get out of your hou-" The guard froze when he rounded the corner of the house, not quite under Astrid. "What the…Who are you? What are you wearing?" he demanded.

Thinking fast, Matt quickly replied "Well…funny thing." Matt began to scoot away from him to draw him closer to Astrid. "I'm supposed to be you and I'm going to be wearing your armor."

Confused, the guard stepped closer to Matt only to have Astrid jump on his back; bringing the flat side of her axe on top of the guards head.

Matt flinched as he watched the guard fall almost lifeless to the ground. "Wow…I'd almost feel bad for him if I didn't know that he invaded Berk.

"Quit talking!" Astrid hissed as she started to strip the armor off of the fallen guard "Quick put these on!"

Matt immediately dropped his backpack and threw on the shoulder plates. Since he was significantly smaller than the guard, he had to keep his snowboard coat and pants on to fill the extra space.

"Here, these too!" Astrid said, throwing him a heavy studded vest and chaps "They'll at least cover most of your equipment." Staring at the chaps, Matt quickly started to rush putting on the vest first.

While Matt was changing, Astrid kept watch in case other guards came. Just as Matt finished strapping on the chaps, Astrid asked "So…how are you going to get the dragons?"

Matt looked up in shock and then slightly chuckled "I'm not getting the dragons. You are."

Astrid stared at Matt as he finished clicking the belt on. "Well do I pass?" he asked, showing himself off.

"Good enough, but what do you mean I'm getting the dragons?" Astrid asked with concern on her face "I can't even show my face past this building without being spotted!"

"You're totally missing the point Astrid!" Matt said a little impatiently "We need everyone to see you. I won't be able to get into the arena unless I have a reason!"

Astrid looked at Matt still confused. "What do you mean we need everyone to see me!? We need to free Hiccup and the others!"

"I know!" Matt said frustrated "Honestly Astrid, do I need to tell you everything?"

"Yes!" Astrid hissed back "With a plan like this, I do need to know everything!"

Sighing, Matt shook his head and put his goggles in his coat pocket. Making sure that they wouldn't fall out, he looked back at Astrid and asked: "Got any rope?"

"What? Why?" Astrid said, and then it hit her. Nodding very slowly she began to say "So your taking me in as a prisoner…your using me as bait."

"As a pass." Matt corrected "I need to have a reason to get to, and ultimately into, the dragon arena."

Astrid still nodding, slowly let her axe drop in the snow. "And you can't get into the arena unless you have something that Dagur wants."

"Nailed it." Matt said quietly.

Kneeling down, Astrid picked up a coil of rope off the Berserker guard and handed it to Matt. "Just to let you know, this is incredibly risky."

"I know. But it guarantees us a spot in the arena right? Besides if I try to help the dragons, they'll see me as…well a Berserker, not a friend." Matt said, grabbing the rope. Pausing for a second, Matt then asked "Astrid. If you really don't want to do this, I totally understand."

"Oh shut up!" Astrid replied with a jest in her voice "You knew that I'd do it, that's why you came up with this plan. Nope, I'm in. I haven't come up with a better plan anyways."

Smiling sheepishly Matt kneeled down and had Astrid turn around, pulling her wrists together and behind her. Winding the rope tightly around her wrists, Matt cut the remaining rope with a dagger he pulled off of the guard. He then used what was left of the coil and tied Astrid's ankles together. Letting her lean against the building for balance, Matt grabbed the helmet of the Berserker and slid it over his head.

"Now you look like a Berserker." Astrid said "Can barely tell who you are with that on, and I even know you."

"Thanks." Matt said, double checking the helmet was on straight "Ready to go?"

Astrid looked at him like he was stupid, saying "I don't know, I'm tied up and leaning against a wall. You tell me if I'm ready to go."

Laughing lightly, Matt picked up Astrid's axe and sheathed the dagger he took in the belt he had strapped on. Holding the axe in one hand, he picked up Astrid with the other and slung her over his shoulder. Walking out into the open, Matt took a deep breath and prayed that this plan would work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey so...I'm trying to update this story frequently so that it's more of a book and less than a series, so here's chapter three. Hope you guys are enjoying this story! I'm really enjoying writing it. As per usual, please read and review and**

**Enjoy!**

**Chapter Three: Family Reunion**

Matt stumbled slightly as he took to a small set of stairs, causing him to shift Astrid awkwardly to the right. Getting his balance back, Matt quickly looked through his helmet to see if anyone was watching him. Carrying Astrid with one arm and a shoulder was a lot harder than he expected. In fact his shoulder was starting to fall asleep due to the weight.

"Oof" Astrid grunted "Careful Matt!"

"Hey, it's harder than it looks!" Matt whispered, continuing his path towards the arena. "My leg is giving me a bit of grief and you're a bit heavier than I expected…"

"Are you calling me fat!?" Astrid whispered back with venom in her words.

Realizing what he had just said, Matt quickly replied "No, no, no, no…Just saying we should have taken off some of your armor before we started this."

"Shut up, someone's coming!" Astrid whispered, looking up from her view. "By the way, you're going to pay for that."

Matt quickly started to walk towards the arena again, limping slightly more because of the stumble.

"Hey you!" a voice called behind him "Who do you have there?"

Matt was quick to respond, and with a gruff voice answered "It's Astrid, I found her hiding behind one of the buildings. She's the one Dagur's looking for right?"

"Wait, you found Astrid!?" the Berserker said in shock "And you were able to get the jump on her?"

"She didn't see me." Matt replied shrugging.

"Then why are you limping?" the Berserker questioned.

"I got the jump on her, doesn't mean I didn't have trouble!" Matt spat back. His stomach felt like he had eagles in it rather than butterflies. "She hit my leg pretty good."

"Let me go!" Astrid shouted, trying to twist away from Matt "I'll kill you when I get out!"

"See!?" Matt pointed out, rechecking his grip on Astrid "I'm taking her to Dagur. Is he at the arena?"

"Yeah he is, but let me help you." The guard responded "She looks heavy."

Astrid's eyes burned with fire at that comment, to which Matt replied "And let you have some of the credit for capturing her? No way." With that Matt turned and started to walk to the arena, saying "If anything you should get the men ready to go out to find the Night Fury."

"Why?" the berserker asked, trying to follow Matt.

"Because I'm sure Dagur will get her to tell him where it is…" Matt said, still walking away.

With that the guard stopped and looked around as if he didn't know what he should do.

"Good job with the acting." Matt whispered, letting the sweat roll down his face "I really thought he wasn't going let us go alone!"

"Don't relax yet." Astrid replied quietly "We're not in the clear."

Focusing on the arena ahead of them Matt kept on putting one step ahead of another.

Matt was making decent progress to the arena, only having to point the axe he had at one Berserker who wanted to grab Astrid from him to help.

"Easy does it…" Matt whispered as he started to cross the bridge to the arena. "Almost there…"

"This is insane!" Astrid whispered back "Are you sure we can get the dragons out?"

"We have too…" Matt replied "Or Berk's lost forever."

Upon arriving to the gate of the arena, the guards were shocked to see Astrid strewn over Matt's shoulder. "Thor's beard! How did you get her!?" One guard said loudly, followed by "Aye, she doesn't look so tough."

The arena was surrounded by Berserkers, but mostly with Berk Vikings, watching Hiccup and the others. Matt was busy eying everyone near him, making sure no one was getting too close. Just as he got to the gate, he heard a voice shouting from inside the arena.

"My patience is running low Hiccup!" the voice shouted.

"Is that Dagur?" Matt whispered to Astrid.

"Yeah, be careful Matt…" Astrid whispered back.

Taking a deep breath, Matt walked through the open gate, revealing the massive arena again. He instantly remembered when he tried to train a Deadly Nadder, but quickly dismissed the thought and returned to the present. Sweat was pouring down his face and he was roasting in his helmet despite it being winter. Standing there at the entrance, he waited to be noticed by Dagur.

"I told you I have no idea where Astrid went!" Hiccup shouted back. He was on his knees as were all the other riders. Then for the first time, Matt saw Dagur up close. The war paint over his eye, the long horns on his helmet, and the crazy laughter coming from him was raising many red flags in Matt's head.

Dagur obviously didn't see Matt because he kept on yelling at Hiccup. "You better start coming up with something Hiccup, like where they might have gone or a favorite spot they have, ANYTHING!"

"I don't know!" Hiccup argued back "I have no idea! How many times do I have to tell you!?"

Taking a step back, Dagur drew his sword and began to walk to the other dragon riders. "Well…for every minute you waste not telling me, one of your friends have to die."

"I'm telling you I have no idea where Astrid and Toothless are!" Hiccup screamed, standing up.

Dagur immediately ran at Hiccup and pushed him down. "Don't you ever stand up unless I tell you to!"

"Matt…get his attention! Get him away from Hiccup!" Astrid pleaded quietly.

"I got it…" Matt whispered back. Walking to Dagur with his slight limp, he shouted "Dagur sir! I've captured Astrid!"

Dagur immediately turned his attention to the oncoming Berserker. Hiccup looked at Matt with horror and depression, not knowing who he was really looking at. The rest of the dragon riders were yelling at Matt. Ignoring them, especially Hiccup who was just staring at him, he continued to walk to Dagur with Astrid over his shoulder who was pretending to fight by shifting her wait and twist her arms out of the ropes. Matt continued saying "I didn't find the Night Fury, but I think she hid him close the east side of the island."

Walking next to Hiccup, Matt saw how beat up he was. A black eye as well and his face was swelling a little. Matt wanted to deck Dagur for beating on his ancestor and friend. Looking at Hiccup more closely, Matt saw that he did look different. Not only being older, but the armor was new and it seemed like it was all built with the intention to help him ride Toothless. Even his metal leg looked different.

Setting down Astrid next to Hiccup on her knees, he faced Dagur and saluted. Matt swore that his heart was beating out of his coat and heavy leather vest. Eyeing Matt, Dagur then turned to Astrid. "How did you capture her?"

"She was hiding behind a building. I snuck behind her and took her down." Matt replied with as much authority as he could muster.

"You came in limping…" Dagur observed, pointing his sword at Matt's leg.

"She landed a few hits on me. Not enough to stop me, but she did hit my leg pretty good." Matt replied. Matt was praying that Dagur would just stop asking questions.

"That's brilliant!" Dagur laughed, sheathing his sword and grabbing Matt in a big bear hug "Tell me soldier, what's your name?"

"Uh…well...its…M...Mat…is. Matis! My name is Matis!" Matt stuttered. "Smooth…no one will crack that" he thought sarcastically.

"Well Matis, you did something that not only three men couldn't do, but something a whole squad of men couldn't do!" Dagur laughed. "After the first three came back, I had to send about 20! You saved me the time and effort of burning the entire island!" Hitting Matt in the shoulder, Dagur continued "Go ahead and get that leg rested up. You have the day off and you're getting a promotion!"

Matt breathed a lot easier now with Dagur believing his con. Nodding to Dagur, he said "Thank you sir, but with your permission, I'd like to stay right here and see what happens. I went through a lot of trouble to get her here, and I would like to see…" Looking down at Astrid, who in turn looked up at him, finished saying "her fate."

Dagur smiled and nodded "Of course! You've earned that much!"

Matt stepped back behind Astrid and Hiccup and looking down on them. Even though he was behind Hiccup, Matt could feel the hate coming from him.

Dagur immediately returned his attention to Astrid, who was fighting her bonds. "Easy…easy…don't want to hurt that precious skin of yours before I tear it off of you."

"Leave her alone!" Hiccup yelled, starting to stand up again.

Dagur almost immediately backhanded Hiccup, throwing him a few feet away. "I'm not leaving her out of this since you were the one who brought her into it! Having her hide the Night Fury from me…"

"Stop!" Astrid shouted "If I tell you where Toothless is…will you let us go? Will you leave Berk?" While saying this, Astrid stood up straight on her knees, her wrists and ankles still bound.

"Well…" Dagur said, immediately turning his attention to Astrid "You were a headache when you left with the Night Fury…"

Astrid squirmed a little, trying to contain her anger. Matt quickly kneeled down and held her down, acting like he was making sure she wasn't going to do anything funny.

"But…you would save me a lot of time looking for the Night Fury if you just told me." Dagur said, kneeling down and running his hands through Astrid's hair "I don't think I'd leave, but I would spare your dragons."

Matt wanted so badly to smash Dagur's face in for touching Astrid, but continued to hold Astrid down. He couldn't help but feel guilty for helping Dagur.

"Fine…I'll tell you…" Astrid said, looking down.

"Astrid don't!" Hiccup yelled trying to sit up, only to fall back down.

"He's in the cove!" Astrid said defiantly, staring at Dagur "He's in the cove where Hiccup found him…"

Smiling, Dagur let Astrid's hair slip through his fingers. Standing up, he started to walk to Hiccup who was sobbing a little. Matt then slipped the dagger he had into Astrid's hand and dropped her axe next to her. "Get the dragons when I knock Dagur down." Making sure Astrid had a grip on the dagger, Matt stood up and slowly followed Dagur.

"Well Hiccup…I get your dragon after all…" Dagur said smugly while drawing his sword.

"Wait!" Astrid yelled "You promised th-"

"I promised I wouldn't kill your dragons. Nothing about you or your friends!" Dagur yelled, not even turning to face her.

"Way to go Astrid…" Ruffnut yelled from the dragon riders.

All Hiccup could do was stare angrily at Dagur, wishing he could fight back.

"Good-bye Hiccup." Dagur whispered raising his sword above his head.

The other dragon riders were all shouting, some angry, some panicked, and most were terrified. Hiccup just stared at Dagur's eyes, not even showing fear or regrets. Just as he was sure the sword was going to come down, he saw Dagur get lit up with lightning. Confused, Hiccup just stared at Dagur as he was getting shocked. At that same moment, Astrid stood up and bolted to the cages where the dragons were kept.

"Gahh! Erraaahhh!" Dagur screamed. After the shocking stopped, Dagur collapsed on the ground twitching.

Hiccup stared at Dagur and then at the Berserker that held a black object in his hand. Almost immediately, the Berserker leapt over Hiccup and began to untie his hands.

"Who are you? Why are you doing this?" Hiccup asked confused, sitting up so that his hands were easier to untie.

After Matt finished untying Hiccup, he picked him up from off the ground. Doing so, Matt then tore off the helmet that covered his face. "I'm just a relative!" Matt said out loud, pulling Hiccup by his armor towards the other dragon riders.

The crowd around the arena exploded into a frenzy as Viking fought Viking. The guards that would have been helping Dagur, were busy with a riot.

Matt let go of Hiccup and began to untie the other riders, the first being Snotlout. "Matt!? What are you doing here!?"

"Are you seriously asking that right now!?" Matt yelled as he pulled the rope off of Snotlout "Go get your dragon!"

Just as he said that, an explosion sounded off above them. Looking through the smoke, Matt saw a black dragon fly through the now massive hole in the cage ceiling. Toothless had cleared a way to get out of the arena. At the same time Astrid had freed the dragons and all of them ran to their trainers.

"Toothless!" Hiccup yelled running towards the growling dragon "Let's finish this!" Turning to Matt, who was busy untying Eret's ropes, yelled "Come on Matt! Get over here!"

Yanking the rope off the wrists of Eret, Matt ran towards Toothless. Almost immediately he was floored by a force that threw him on his back. Looking at where he was hit, Matt saw Dagur pointing his sword at his face.

"Move a step closer to me Hiccup and I'll run him through!" Dagur yelled at Hiccup who was trying to control Toothless from attacking.

"Again!?" Matt thought to himself "I have to play hostage again?"

Looking down at Matt, Dagur's face was deranged with anger. "I'm so sick of surprises like you! Always ruining perfect plans!" Dagur screamed.

"Join the freakin' club!" Matt yelled back "Every time I come here I either get captured, stabbed, somehow thrown on the ground, falling off a cliff, or knocked unconscious. I'm getting pretty sick of it too!"

With that, Dagur drew his sword back just as someone shouted "Hey Dagur! Heads up!" Turning to see who said it, Dagur immediately had his face meet Astrid's fist.

Astrid, who was riding Stormfly, then did a small loop and had Stormfly pick Matt up with her claws. Flying out of the arena through the hole that Toothless made, Astrid turned to see that all the other riders were following behind her.

"Astrid!" Hiccup yelled "I need you, Eret, and Snotlout to clear the blacksmith shop. We need to arm our men! The rest of us are going to start sinking the Berserker ships and strafing their ground forces!"

"I-I'll go with Astrid." Matt yelled, still hanging from Stormfly "Not that I have much choice."

Hiccup smiled for the first time and replied "You do that! We'll have to catch up after this!" Then turning to everyone he yelled "Ready, break!"

"You got it chief!" Eret shouted, pulling his dragon into a steep dive.

"Chief!?" Matt yelled out loud. So much was going through his head, but his shocked cry was ignored as Stormfly also went into a steep dive. The wind blew through his hair, chilling him. Just as he swore that he was going to hit the ground, Stormfly pulled up and lightly dropped Matt.

Scrambling to get up, Matt saw Astrid run off of Stormfly with her axe raised above her head, bringing on top of a Berserker's helmet.

"Ouch…" he whispered as he saw the Viking fall backwards. Suddenly, Matt heard someone yelling to the left of him. Turning to see who it was, Matt barely had time to dodge a mace that swung down at him. Falling at the feet of his attacker, Matt stuck out his taser and shocked the leg that was closest. In seconds the massive Viking collapsed to the ground.

Getting back up, Matt looked at the battle raging around him. Astrid was busy fighting another Berserker while Stormfly kept two more from grabbing her from behind. Kind of lost in the moment, Matt heard another battle cry from behind him. Turning around, Matt was rushed by another Viking who promptly fell to the ground in front of him. Looking at the downed Berserker and then back up, Matt recognized the Berk Viking that saved him. Gobber.

"Don't just stand there!" Gobber shouted with his thick accent "Get the weapons out of the shop!"

Matt immediately sprinted to the shop and began to grab weapons of every kind. Spears, swords, maces, everything. Snotlout was also helping grab the weapons. Throwing them on the ground, Matt saw the Berk Vikings pick them up and almost instantly started to thrash away at the Berserkers.

Just as the battle was turning in the Berk's favor, Matt heard a voice scream the words that he wanted to hear.

"RETREAT!" a Berserker's voice sounded "Fall back to the ships!"

Almost instantly, columns of men ran down towards the docks. Matt ran to the edge of a cliff to see ships pulling out of the harbor and men leaping onto those that were leaving the docks. An explosion suddenly went off in the middle of the chaos. One of Toothless' blasts. Matt smiled as he watched the Berks chase the remaining Berserker's into the water.

"Matt look out!" Astrid's voice sounded behind him.

Spinning around, Matt was shoved by the Berserker that he tazed when he first got to the shop. Losing his balance, Matt suddenly felt weightless. Looking at the sky, he could see the cliff rising at an incredibly fast rate. Before he realized that he was falling, he felt himself jolted the other way.

Looking around to try to keep up with what had happened, Matt saw that a dragon grabbed him. A four winged dragon. Landing next to the shop Matt fell to the ground just in time to see Astrid pound the Berserker's face with the handle of her axe, laying him limp on the ground a second time.

Looking up at the dragon who saved him, he saw the rider that was on it as well. A girl first off, and she wore strange robes that looked like extremely light armor. She also had long brown hair as well, and was a little older than the other riders. Middle aged maybe.

"Are you alright?" the rider asked, jumping off of her dragon.

"I am now…my mind is still catching up with what just happened." Matt said, turning to face the cliff he was standing at.

"Well, glad I was there when I saw it happen!" the rider continued.

"Same!" Matt smiled back "I should've expected it though, falling off a cliff is a usual thing for me."

"Hey! This wasn't my fault this time!" Astrid yelled, marching up to Matt.

"I know, it just was your fault last time I fell off a cliff here." Matt said laughing, to which he promptly stopped when she smacked him in the arm twice. "Ow WOW!" Matt shouted, gripping his shoulder "What was the second one for!?"

"You calling me fat earlier." Astrid said with a smirk.

"It. Was. Your. Armor!" Matt replied, still defending his stance. "I swear that's what I meant!"

"Matt!? Is that really you?" Hiccup's voice sounded above him.

Almost instantly Toothless landed in the middle of the crowd and Hiccup jumped off to run to Matt, who was still rubbing his shoulder. "I…I can't believe this!" With that Hiccup grabbed Matt and lifted him in the air. "You came back! You came back again!"

"Eh…" Matt breathed, trying suck in some oxygen "Astrid picked me up, but yes! It's me and I'm back!" Breaking out of Hiccup's grip, Matt in turn picked Hiccup up and spun him around. "Still light as ever!"

"Hiccup?" The rider that saved Matt asked, walking slowly towards the two friends and family members "Who is this?"

Hiccup looked at the rider, and then to Matt. Smiling, he said "This is Matt Haddock. Our descendant."

"Our what!?" The rider exclaimed in shock.

"Uh…Hiccup, who's she and why did you say 'our'." Matt asked, his heart racing a little.

"Matt, this is my mom…" Hiccup said turning to Matt "She's a dragon trainer too!"

Floored by this comment, Matt reached his hand forward towards the rider who did the same.

"I'm…Valka." She whispered "I'm your…"

"Some great grandma…" Matt finished, equally quiet "You…you're…"

"Together!" Hiccup threw in, pulling them both in a group hug "The Haddocks together again!"

"Yes…" Matt added "And it's good to be back!"

Finishing the hug, Matt looked around all the dragon riders. After a few seconds, he asked "Hey…where's Stoick?"

Almost instantly the groups face's saddened, telling Matt exactly where Stoick was.

"Matt…" Hiccup responded, obviously depressed "I have a lot to fill you in with…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: In Search of a Friend and Foe**

Matt stared at the massive statue of Stoick carved into the island. He couldn't help but go into the few memories he had of him. Big, firm, friendly, and brave. And then big again. Matt remembered the last time he saw Stoick was when he went to go ride Wasatch shortly after he was injured.

"I'll see you later today then!" Stoick's voice echoed in his mind. That was 6 years ago and Matt left almost as soon as he found out he could go home. He felt bad that he couldn't say bye, but Stoick also wanted Matt to leave as soon as possible. Matt felt that was how he could say bye, by honoring Stoick's wish. Returning to the present time, Matt whispered out loud "What the hell is going on?"

Still looking at the massive monolith, Matt kept on whispering "None of this was in my ancestor's book or family history." He read that Stoick died peacefully, with Hiccup taking over the role of chief at the age of 35, not 20." Matt finally tore his sight from the statue and sat down on the stairs that led to the Great Hall. Staring at the sun setting into the ocean, he added to the thoughts "And Hiccup's mom? She's only mentioned when Hiccup was born. And her being eaten by a dragon."

Matt rested his head against the step that was above him. Even though Berk was free and Hiccup was still alive, Matt was more anxious than before. With all these unanswered questions, Matt just closed his eyes to try and soak it all in.

After a few seconds, he smiled with the thought "At least Hiccup is a good chief. He's really stepped up to the plate like the book said he did."

Hearing someone behind him, Matt turned to see Astrid and Stormfly walking towards him. "Well Matis" Astrid teased "How's Berk treating you so far?"

Laughing, Matt replied with "About the same as last time."

Scooting over to one side of the steps, he let Astrid sit down next to him. Stormfly immediately began to rub up against Matt, as if thanking him for earlier that day.

"Hey girl!" Matt laughed, trying to not be pushed down the stairs by the friendly dragon "I'm glad to see you too!" Returning the rubbing, Matt looked at Astrid who was also petting Stormfly. "Pretty eventful day huh?"

Nodding, Astrid smiled and whispered "Thanks Matt…Thanks for all your help."

"You're kidding right?" Matt laughed "I've been dreaming of coming back for 6 years! Even if nothing was wrong, I would've still come!"

"I know that!" Astrid replied "But seriously…thank you. There's no way I could have done that by myself. Without you, Hiccup and the others would all be…"

"Hey." Matt said, cutting Astrid off "Listen to me. You would have done something, even if it meant exposing yourself. It just so happened that I helped a little. You Astrid are the reason why Hiccup and the rest of the riders area alive. I would have been back at my place preparing snowboards to be rented and sold. I would have had no idea of what happened." Grabbing Astrid's arm and looking at her in the eye, Matt added "We both couldn't have done it without each other. So let's just leave it at that, ok?"

Laughing a little, Astrid nodded "Fine. I'll agree to that."

"Good!" Matt said, scooting back to where he originally sat "And like I said earlier, I couldn't turn away a helpless little girl"

Expecting a punch to his arm, Matt braced himself only to feel a small kiss on the cheek. Staring at Astrid, Matt muttered "You know…I really can't prepare for anything you do."

"That's how I like it." Astrid said, laughing a little louder. Standing up, Astrid pointed to the sky saying "Here comes Valka, we're having a meeting in a few minutes and Hiccup wants you to be in on it."

Looking at where Astrid was pointing, Matt saw the four winged dragon along with the other dragons and their riders flying towards them. Smiling, he asked "What's this meeting about?"

"Probably about the Berserkers." Astrid said flatly, walking to the giant doors that led into the Great Hall. "You know, just the entire reason why I brought you here."

Smiling, Matt followed closely by, picking up his bag that was leaned against the statue of Stoick. His board was still strapped to it and his coat laid on top, to which he grabbed with his other hand.

Walking into the Great Hall, Matt saw that the Berserkers absolutely trashed the place. Chairs were broken and flipped over, as were all the decorations. It honestly looked like the battle happened in there rather than outside. As Matt was observing the wrecked hall, he heard a group of people talking as they entered through the doorway.

"Yeah, well I blew up like…20 ships!" Snotlout's voice sounded.

"Really?" Fishlegs voice piped up "I thought you were helping clear the blacksmith shop. How did you destroy that many ships?"

"Shut up Fishlegs!" Snotlout responded sharply.

"Good to hear things haven't changed too much with you two." Matt called out, turning around to face them and setting the stuff he was carrying on a table.

"Matt!" Fishlegs shouted running to him.

"Hey Fishle-URGHH!" Matt gasped when Fishlegs picked him up and lifted him up in the air.

"I totally thought you were a Berserker! I was so glad that you weren't when you stopped Dagur and then helped Hiccup escape and then all of us who were all lined up to be-" Fishlegs said at about a thousand words a minute.

"Fish. Legs." Matt gasped "Please. Let. Go!"

Realizing what he was doing to Matt, Fishlegs promptly dropped Matt who quickly started to inhale air. "Sorry Matt…I was just excited to see you."

"Don't worry about it Fishlegs…" Matt exhaled "Glad to see you too!"

"Dude…mind telling us how you shocked Dagur like that?" Ruffnut asked, walking up to Matt who finally caught his breath.

"Yeah. Like…what kind of magic did you use?" Tuffnut quickly added, pushing his sister away.

Shaking his head, Matt laughed saying "I'll show you two later, when everyone is here."

Matt was then approached by the last man he freed in the arena. A bigger man, someone who definitely had some stories to tell by the scars and war paint he wore. "Names Eret, Son of Eret." He said extending his hand out to Matt "Thank you for helping all of us back in the arena."

"Well I'm Matt, and I'll do that any time!" Matt replied taking Eret's hand "I'm glad I was able to be of some help."

"Yeah, because you weren't really any help when you fought with us." Snotlout threw in, walking towards Tuffnut.

"Snotlout!" Astrid yelled from the table she was sitting at "Seriously? He just saved all of our lives and your complaining that he didn't help!?"

"Well yeah!" Snotlout retorted "He only knocked down one Berserker and he was pushed off of a cliff by the same guy!"

"Two Berserkers actually." Eret threw in "He took down Dagur when you didn't and couldn't."

"Hey, hey, hey!" Matt yelled, waving his hands in a motion to stop the fighting "I know that I didn't help much during the actual fight; I completely agree with that." Turning to Snotlout he then smiled and added "That's why I said I'm glad I was some help."

Even though Astrid stopped arguing, she still walked up to Snotlout and drove her fist into his face, knocking him flat on his back. "Ow..." he groaned, slowly rolling over to stand back up.

"Have to say, I don't feel bad about that!" Matt whispered to Astrid as they both walked back to the only clear table.

Matt felt someone walking next to him. Turning to see who it was, he was surprised to see Valka walking step for step with him.

"Can I ask a question?" Valka asked a little sheepishly.

Taken back by the request, Matt stopped walking and said "Of course! Go ahead."

"When did you come here last?" Valka asked "Hiccup wouldn't stop talking about you!"

Smiling, Matt replied with "About 6 years ago. I was 16."

"Did…did you train a dragon when you were here?" Valka pressed on, her face lighting up with excitement.

Laughing a little, Matt nodded and answered "Yeah. A Skrill named Wasatch. The name comes after a mountain range near where I live. As far as training it, I didn't really have a choice; it was either train or get roasted from the inside out." Looking to the door, he saw Hiccup and Gobber walk through. "I'll be more than happy to tell you the story with Hiccup when we have more time."

Nodding, Valka smiled with the answer she received and walked over to the table with the others.

Matt and Fishlegs both grabbed a flipped over bench and set it next to the table as Hiccup stood at the end of the Table.

"Thank you guys…" Hiccup said, smiling the best he could. Matt could see the sheer exhaustion on his face. He couldn't imagine going through a night being beat by Dagur, almost executed, having to fight a battle, and then securing a village. It made Matt want to just take Hiccup away from Berk to just escape. His black eye was still visible, but thankfully the swelling in his face disappeared almost completely.

"First things first." Hiccup said, putting his riding helmet on the table "We've all seen our rescuer today, but I'd like to officially recognize and thank Matt for coming in our time of need. Today would have ended very different if he hadn't shown up."

Almost everyone at the table cheered and those that were next to him, slapped him on the back. Blushing a little, Matt just smiled and replied "It's not all my credit…"

"It is though." Hiccup said smiling "You were the reason Astrid was able to free the dragons and on top of that, you really hurt Dagur in the arena!"

Looking at Astrid, Matt quickly replied "Eh…I'm pretty sure Astrid's fist did more than my little taser."

"I'll second that!" Snotlout shouted, rubbing his face.

Shaking his head, Hiccup said "Your being humble Matt…we just want you to know that your position in the Dragon Training Academy never expired. Welcome back."

Smiling Matt mouthed "Thanks."

Turning to the rest of the group, Hiccup continued "Dagur's gone for now, but we all know he'll be back." Pausing for a second, he then said "We destroyed a number of ships as they left, but they will rebuild like they always do. To prevent that, we're going to find the Berserkers and Dagur to strike at them before they come back." Lowering his voice, Hiccup added "We need to destroy Dagur once and for all."

Everyone had a surprised look on their face. Hiccup was usually the peacekeeper, always trying to get away from war and fights.

"Why the sudden change of tactics?" Astrid asked, looking at Hiccup with concern.

"Because Dagur won't reason with anyone. He kills first and asks questions later." Hiccup said, looking at Astrid in the eye. His face was also covered in concern as he thought of Astrid being captured. "We gave him how many chances to stop his madness or to leave us alone? Countless times, and not only in the past but today alone! He was going to kill all of us whether he had Toothless or not."

"Hey Hiccup." Matt interrupted, causing all at the table to look at him. "I just want to make this clear from the get go; I'm all for helping you make Berk safer and to remove a maniac from this world, but…" Matt hesitated a little bit "I have my own personal trip I need to do. I'm going to have to pass on this."

Hiccup was staring at him, thrown at what Matt was saying. "What do you mean Matt? You're part of this team! We need you!" At this point Hiccup had his voice raised, obviously irked by Matt's comments.

"But I need Wasatch!" Matt yelled back and standing up from his seat "Look. I can help you find the Berserker fleet, I can even help you get out of jam if needed; but when it comes to fighting, I'm useless. I have a taser, big whoop!" At this Matt pulled out the taser and lit it up to show everyone. "I can't do anything until I have a dragon! My dragon! I want to be able to fight and I can't do that until I'm on Wasatch's back!"

"We don't even know where he is or where he went!" Hiccup shouted back "For all we know he could be on the other side of the world!" Slamming his hands on the table, Hiccup continued "I'm not going to waste time letting Dagur rebuild his fleet and army searching for a single dragon."

Matt just stared at Hiccup, his face displaying a mixture of anger and hurtfulness. Nodding slightly, he whispered "Fine. I'm on board." Turning around, he quickly grabbed his coat and walked towards the door saying "Anytime you need me…let me know; I'll be right outside."

After seeing the look on Matt's face and watching him walk out, Hiccup looked down at the table. "What did I just do…" Hiccup muttered to himself, shaking his head slightly.

Astrid felt bad for Matt, and was about to chew out Hiccup. Just as she was about to rip into him, she saw a tear roll down his exhausted, beat up face. Suddenly feeling sorry for Hiccup as well, she decided against it and just gripped her battle-axe in a death grip.

"Uh…Hiccup?" Eret's voice sounded, bringing a slight breath of relief to everyone.

Snapping his head back up towards Eret, Hiccup quickly responded with "Hmm? Yeah, what?"

"I have an idea that would let us track the Berserker's fleet, you know, to let us know where they'll be making repairs and such." Eret said, trying to sound like as if nothing happened.

"Go on" Hiccup said, a little perked at this as well as a change of subject.

"If I can get a few extra hands, I can take my crew and ship to follow the fleet. My ship is faster than any of theirs and I have Skull Crusher to help us track them." Eret said, gesturing towards Hiccup as if he was selling him something. "That way Berk can rebuild and prepare for another attack, but be able to keep tabs on them."

Nodding, Hiccup liked the idea. "That would allow us not to be spread thin with our dragons and keep our men on the defense until we're ready to take the fight to Dagur."

"The forge would be able to run at full capacity." Gobber added "I could re-arm the entire island twice within two weeks."

"Good." Hiccup added, starting to point at Gobber "That's real good. I want a secondary armory set up in the mountain and hidden. I'm getting tired of our armory always getting destroyed or captured."

"Consider it done!" Gobber said, starting to walk out.

"Wait Gobber…" Hiccup called "Stay here, I need you for two more things." A better idea was coming into his head, one that would benefit everyone.

"Sure thing!" Gobber replied with a smile.

The old natural, relaxed atmosphere was starting to come back, and with that Hiccup issued the rest of the group orders that he wanted them to do.

"Snotlout, Fishlegs, twins, and mom." Hiccup said, looking at all of them "I want you all to stay with Berk to help defend and rebuild. Mom, keep the dragons at bay and use them if we're attacked again."

"I will not fail." Valka replied, nodding her head in agreement.

"Yeah neither will we!" Snotlout shouted, then turning to Ruffnut said "Will we princess?"

Ruffnut gagged a little at this, turning her head away. As she did so the entire group stood up to leave, to which she followed quickly.

"Eret, take as many men you need to get your ship ready to sail tonight." Hiccup said, returning his attention to the dragon wrangler. "Any extra supplies we have, you take them. I want you out of here before midnight."

"Got it chief!" Eret said, standing up to run out.

"Remember, don't engage the Berserker's; just observe them. Come back anytime they start to advance on us." Hiccup warned, his eyes following Eret out of the Hall.

A quick nod and smile told Hiccup that Eret understood. After watching Eret and the others walk out of the door, Hiccup turned to Gobber and said "Gobber, first thing I need you to do is run the village for me. Astrid and I are going to go on a special mission."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Gobber asked curiously "Feeling lucky on finding the Berserker fleet somewhere else?"

"No." Hiccup replied. Turning to the doorway where everyone left, he said "To apologize to a friend." Thinking for a few seconds, he continued "Also, get whatever weapons you have left ready to be tested…Matt's going to need to learn how to fight."

Nodding in understanding, Gobber started to walk out of the Great Hall. Stopping a little ways, he turned to Hiccup and said "Stoick would be proud of you Hiccup. He knows you're doing the best you can for Berk and your friends."

Nodding, Hiccup just stared at the table he was leaning against. To which Astrid made her move.

"So…special mission?" Astrid asked resting her hand on Hiccup's shoulder "Can I guess what it is?"

Looking at Astrid, Hiccup quickly pulled her close to him and kissed her. "You can, but after we're done." Holding her close, he whispered "I missed you. I was thinking of you every minute that you were away. I was so terrified when I saw you captured…"

Smiling Astrid reached her arms around him and returned another kiss, saying "I did too…for the entire day that I was gone." and then immediately flipped the switch that released the dorsal fin for his glide suit on his armor.

"Really Astrid?" Hiccup said with an annoyed look "First moment we get to be alone and you pull something sneaky like that?"

"Oh…you mad?" Astrid snickered, reaching up and kissing Hiccup again.

"Hmm…not as much now." Hiccup said smiling.

After a few minutes of being with each other, Astrid pulled a little bit away from Hiccup and asked "So…what is this 'special mission'?" Looking at the doorway, she asked "Is it for Matt?"

"Yeah…" Hiccup said, also looking in the same direction "I didn't mean to yell at him like that, but I was just frustrated that-"

"Hiccup." Astrid said, pulling his head towards her so that they were looking at each other eyes. "I know you're going to make it up, but you really need to apologize to him and not me."

Nodding, Hiccup looked down and quietly said "I said some pretty hurtful things didn't I? I mean, did you see his face?"

Astrid didn't say anything except lift Hiccup's chin. After a few seconds of staring into each other's eyes she said "If that's the worse you ever said, then you're a pretty good guy Hiccup Haddock." Then getting behind him, she started to push him towards the door "Now get going!"

Laughing, Hiccup grabbed Astrid and pulled her with him "You're coming with me. I need you to back me up!"

"Hiccup!" Astrid protested "You need to apologize, not me!"

"Just trust me." Hiccup said grabbing Matt's backpack and board that was left behind.

As they walked out, they saw Matt standing on top of the steps with his coat and goggles on; staring out into the twilight sky. Both Toothless and Stormfly were sitting next to him and Matt was scratching Toothless' forehead.

"Wasatch loved it when I did that…" Matt whispered to Toothless, not knowing Hiccup was behind him.

For some reason, Hiccup got a lot more nervous as he left Astrid's side and approached Matt. Walking in between him and Stormfly, he said "Matt…I'm sorry for the way I reacted…I was ju-"

"Hiccup." Matt interrupted "You're tired. You were beaten, you watched Astrid be captured, you thought Toothless was going to be Dagur's trophy, and you had to fight in a battle." Turning to Hiccup he said "If anything, I should be the one apologizing."

"Matt." Hiccup whispered "That's not fair to you." Grabbing Matt's arm, Hiccup turned him around "You saved our lives. All of our lives." He gestured to the village "The least I could do is listen to what you have to say."

"Is this to pay me back?" Matt asked "I don't want you to feel that way Hiccup. I just wanted to find Wasatch so I could be more help to you. Not make you feel like I wanted special recognition or payment."

"It's not about paying you back." Hiccup reassured "It's about doing the right thing." Motioning Astrid to come over, he then said "Astrid and I are going to go with you to find Wasatch. We leave tomorrow."

Floored, Matt stuttered "Bu-but what about Berk? What about you being chief?"

"Gobber's taking care of those things, as well as the rest of the academy." Hiccup said smiling.

"Hiccup…" Matt said "I feel like I bullied you into doing this for me."

"You didn't." Hiccup replied. Then pointing to Astrid, joked "She did."

Astrid immediately punched Hiccup in the arm. "Are you kidding me!?"

Laughing, Matt replied "Well…what do you need me to do to get ready?"

"Go with Astrid to Gobber's shop." Hiccup said "She's going to help you select a weapon and train you a little bit."

Astrid finally saw why Hiccup wanted her to come. Smiling, she quickly climbed onto Stormfly, grabbing Matt by the coat.

Thrown a little bit by the sudden change of events, Matt looked at Hiccup as he also climbed on Stormfly. "What about you? What are you doing?"

"Sleeping." Hiccup laughed "I'm exhausted and if we're leaving tomorrow, I'm going to need all the rest I can get!"

"Thank you Hiccup…" Matt said softly. Motioning to Astrid that he was ready, Matt felt himself propelled through the air. Looking behind him, Matt shouted "Don't expect me to me a warrior tomorrow!"

"I won't!" Hiccup shouted back as he climbed on Toothless.

Turning to Astrid, Matt asked "Think I'll be able to learn how to fight?"

"Tonight?" Astrid in turn asked "No. Not at all. We're just going to try and find you a weapon that you think you can work with."

"Thanks Astrid…" Matt said, relaxing a little. After a few more seconds he started to laugh out loud, causing Astrid to quizzically stare at him. Looking at her, he explained "I forgot to tell you! Happy early birthday!" he said, gesturing to all of Berk "Saved Berk for you!"

Astrid's face suddenly lit up with a smile and said "You never know when to quit do you?"

"Nope!" Matt smiled "Same mentality I'm taking with me on this trip!"

"Good! We might need it!" Astrid replied, turning her attention to ahead of her.

"I'm never going to give up…" Matt thought to himself, looking into the dark abyss of the ocean "I'll never give up until I find you Wasatch…"

* * *

**There you go! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm almost done with the next one as well, so hopefully I'll have that up during the weekend. On that note, hope you all have a great weekend!**

**Enjoy!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Reunion Tour**

Hiccup yawned and stretched as he woke up. A good night's rest was exactly what he needed. Already recharged, Hiccup threw his blanket off and leapt out of bed. Even though he felt better, his body was still quite sore. Wincing a little from the soreness, Hiccup looked at Toothless who was still sleeping.

"Come on Toothless!" Hiccup laughed, throwing his pillow at him "We're needing to leave pretty soon."

Toothless' head shot up, wondering what had hit him. Realizing what Hiccup was saying, Toothless gave him an annoyed look and slowly let his head back down trying to go back to sleep.

"Come on Toothless!" Hiccup said, walking to the lazy dragon "I'm not doing any chief duties! You want to waste this rare opportunity to go explore?"

Toothless groaned while rolling onto his feet. Slowly walking to Hiccup, Toothless just glared at him.

"That's the attitude we're looking for." Hiccup muttered sarcastically "Come on, let's go find Matt. I totally forgot to tell him that he could sleep over here."

Walking downstairs, Hiccup was surprised to see Matt already sleeping in a chair. With the fire out, and only a small blanket, he was curled up in ball.

Laughing, Hiccup yelled "Well, glad you found somewhere to sleep!"

Matt, jumping awake, kicked wildly at the air. Realizing what was happening, he leaned his head back and chuckled "Man Hiccup, you're definitely not the quite kid I once knew." Stretching, Matt stood up from the chair that was his bed. "Ready to go?"

"I was just about to ask you the same thing." Hiccup smiled, walking to two leather packs. Heaving both of them onto Toothless' saddle, Hiccup added "You might want to pack light. I've got everything that we need in these things."

"Don't worry about me, I only brought one bag." Matt joked, shouldering his backpack and snowboard.

"Going snowboarding?" Hiccup asked walking to the door.

"It'll help me cover some ground if we have to explore an island." Matt replied following Toothless with a limp.

"Your leg ok?" Hiccup asked a little concerned.

"Bah, just the mornings are rough." Matt said, ignoring the concern.

"What about your weapon?" Hiccup asked "You did choose one right?"

"Sure did." Matt quickly replied, limping past Hiccup and through the door. Pulling a crossbow from behind the wall, he faced Hiccup saying "This is the closest thing you guys had to a gun."

"That's good!" Hiccup smiled, looking at how Matt handled it. After a few seconds, he then asked "What's a gun?"

Realizing what he had said, Matt laughed and explained "It's a weapon that I used back home. Think of it like a crossbow but can shoot a lot faster and more accurate. No cables or arrows either."

"So nothing like a crossbow." Hiccup stated.

"Yeah basically." Matt said, nodding in agreement "Only similar by the way you hold and aim it."

"Sounds like a good choice then!" Hiccup laughed "Now, let's go pick up Astrid before she beats us." He said, walking out the door.

"Too late." Astrid shouted, her voice coming above them.

Walking off the front porch, Hiccup and Matt looked up to see Astrid and Stormfly on top of the roof.

"Sleep in did we?" Astrid asked, leaning forward on her saddle which had her axe tied to one side and a leather bag on the other. "I was about to have Stormfly start roaring to wake you guys up!"

"Well excuse me for wanting to catch up on some rest!" Hiccup shouted playfully "Just trying to recuperate from an average day at Berk."

"You're excused!" Astrid said with a big smile. Coaxing Stormfly down, Astrid landed in between the two Haddocks and Toothless. Looking at Matt holding the crossbow, she turned to Hiccup and said "He's not that bad of a shot with it."

"I'm not that great either!" Matt quickly said, making sure they knew he wasn't the best.

"I didn't say that." Astrid replied turning back to Matt. Seeing his snowboard on his back, she asked "I thought you said you couldn't snowboard?"

"I can." Matt replied "Just not as competitively as I used to. The doctors say that it stresses the leg when I do more intense things like tricks and jumping off ledges. But I can do basic things like walk, jog, and joy ride on a board." Looking at the two who still had a little concern on their faces, he added "Guys I'm fine! It just fatigues faster than normal."

Nodding, Astrid then asked "Well, ready to get going?"

"You know I am." Matt threw in "Just one question. Where are we going? Where do we want to start?"

"I was thinking Dragon Island." Hiccup said "It's not that long of a ride and it's kind of on the way to a series of other islands."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Astrid said "What do you think Matt?"

"Well…since you guys really have no idea where a Skrill could be, I'm all for it." Matt said shrugging.

"Well…we do have one idea where a Skrill could be." Hiccup said climbing on Toothless.

"Really!" Matt said excitedly following Hiccup "Where!?"

"Frozen in an ice cavern." Hiccup replied "Trust me, that thing wasn't Wasatch."

A little bummed at the joke, Matt strapped the crossbow on the saddle. Jumping on behind Hiccup, he pulled down his snowboard goggles and gave a thumbs up.

"Oh Matt, can you look in the bag next to you real quick? Make sure I brought some water." Hiccup asked.

A little miffed that Hiccup may have forgotten something pretty important, Matt opened the saddle bag. Instead of finding water, what he found was his old snowboard bindings that were strapped to a harness. This was what he used to ride on Wasatch. "Hiccup." Matt said in shock "You still kept these?"

"Of course I did!" Hiccup replied with a smile "When you left I took them with me just in case you ever came back."

"Thank you…" Matt whispered, obviously taken back by the surprise gift.

Smiling, the two riders urged their dragons to fly. Matt felt the thrill of being catapulted in the air. This was the first time that he was able to do proper dragon riding, not being held by the claws of a dragon. Just as he was relishing in the moment, Toothless did a quick roll, making Matt do a double check on his grip.

Laughing, Matt looked to see Astrid finish doing a spin of her own. But behind her was Valka keeping up with the two suddenly energetic dragons.

"Hiccup!" Valka called out.

"Mom!" Hiccup shouted back "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to say good luck!" Valka said, having Cloud Jumper circle around "I hope you'll be able to find Matt's Skrill!"

"Thanks mom!" Hiccup shouted back, waving his hand.

"Thank you!" Matt also answered "Means a lot to me…"

"Be careful!" Valka called, heading back towards Berk.

Matt watched Valka turn into a speck, which eventually became all of Berk. It wasn't long until ocean was all you could see around them.

"So…how long of a trip is it to Dragon Island?" Matt asked loud enough for Astrid to hear as well.

"Takes about an hour to get there." Hiccup shouted "Give or take."

"Just sit back and enjoy the ride!" Astrid added, having Stormfly glide over Hiccup and Matt.

Smiling, Matt leaned forward, trying to see the island in question. Every mile they flew, they were a mile closer to Wasatch.

* * *

"So this is Dragon Island?" Matt said, looking around the snow covered landscape. "Not really what I was expecting.

Astrid slid off of Stormfly and stretched her legs "What were you expecting then?"

"I don't know…more lava…maybe some fire…" Matt said, still looking around.

"Oh trust me" Hiccup threw in "There's plenty of lava around here."

"So what do we want to do?" Astrid spoke up, changing the subject "Split up and meet back in a given time limit? Or go together?"

"I vote we split up. Cover more ground that way." Matt said, looking at both Hiccup and Astrid. Walking to Toothless, he grabbed his crossbow "And it'll speed up the process of searching the rest of the islands."

"Splitting up it is then!" Hiccup smiled, having Toothless walk towards a canyon. "Everyone meet back here in an hour or so."

"Easy enough." Astrid said, sliding up on Stormfly "See you guys in a bit then!"

"Sounds good!" Matt replied, waving at the two dragons as they flew off.

Looking around, Matt began to hike up one of the main mountains of the island. At first it wasn't really a climb, just small incline. After a few minutes, Matt needed to start crawling up the slope. Digging his feet in the icy snow, Matt began to slow a little bit. Reaching a flatter spot, Matt turned around to rest his leg. The view from where he was at was amazing. Though it was cold, the skies were clear and the sun was glimmering off the calm ocean. "Man…I love it here…" Matt whispered to himself. Making sure his leg was rested enough, Matt resumed the climb again. Sweating out of the workout and the stress on the leg, Matt was having to really dig his feet down. After 15 minutes of crawling, Matt was now almost getting to spots that required an ice pick. Stopping, Matt slowly turned around and began to dig in the snow. Creating a small nest in the snow, he sat down in it and promptly began to strap his board on. After double checking his bindings, Matt took a breather by sitting back in his little snow seat.

The sight was hard to get over; after hiking almost three quarters of the way up the mountain, Matt was rewarded with a sight that couldn't get much better. Scanning the horizon, Matt knew that finding Wasatch wasn't going to this easy. Standing up, Matt popped his board up and began to slide down the steep mountain side. Upon riding down, Matt noticed something in the distance to his left and along the shore. Squinting, Matt angled his board and headed towards the foreign object.

Upon sliding along the shoreline, Matt stopped behind a boulder and quickly unstrapped his board. Making sure his board wouldn't slide away, Matt readied his crossbow and slowly snuck around. Moving from rock to rock, Matt finally got close enough to be able to see exactly what he saw.

Peering around the corner Matt saw the object was a wrecked ship. Not a big one, but one of decent size. Moving slowly around to expand his field of view, Matt saw girl huddled next to a small fire. With her back turned to him, he could only see her coal black hair. "Ok…" Matt said quietly to himself "Who are you supposed to be?" Deciding that she couldn't be that much of a threat, he slowly walked out from his cover, approaching the girl from behind.

"Hello there." He called out, lowering the crossbow and pulling his snow goggles down to reveal his eyes. He raised his left hand to show that he wasn't meaning any harm.

The girl quickly spun around, brandishing a dagger. Staying on her defense, she asked "Who are you? What do you want?"

"Easy…" Matt replied, stopping where he was standing "Are you hurt? Hungry?"

"Answer my questions first!" The girl shouted, her dagger still raised.

"Matt. Matt Haddock." Matt replied with a slight grin. With the girl actually facing him, he guessed she was near the same age as Astrid. "I just wanted to know if you're ok." With that, Matt pointed his crossbow at the ground to reinforce the fact that he wasn't going to be a threat. "Now that I've answered your question, can you tell me your name?"

Relaxing a little, the girl lowered her dagger also. "Heather. My names Heather."

"Beautiful name." Matt said with a smile. Motioning to the wrecked ship, he asked "Is there anyone else with you? Anyone hurt?"

Shaking her head, Heather replied "No. I was by myself."

Nodding Matt then asked "Mind if I sit down with you at the fire?"

Looking at Matt curiously, Heather said "If you put down your crossbow then yeah. I won't have a problem with that."

Smiling, Matt put his crossbow in the snow and started to walk to Heather. "Mind if you put away the knife? It'd just make me a little more comfortable."

Not saying anything, Heather slipped the dagger into her belt. Looking at Matt who was walking slowly to the fire, she asked "What are you doing here?"

"I'm with a group of friends, we're just exploring the island a little." Matt said, not telling the exact reason why he was on the island. Picking up a large rock, Matt set it next to the fire to sit on.

"How many friends?" Heather followed up with, also sitting next to the fire.

"Two." Matt replied simply, starting to dig through his coat pocket. "They should be meeting up with me pretty soon. I'm sure we can give you a hand."

Heather gave him a strange look, as if trying to figure something out. "What are you wearing? I've never seen anyone wear those kind of clothes before."

Smiling, Matt replied "Well…that's because I'm not really from around here. I'm just visiting." Finally able to grab what he was looking for, Matt pulled out a Clif Bar out of his pocket. Opening it, Matt handed it to Heather who cautiously took it. "Eat it, it's an energy bar. Should keep you from feeling any hungrier than you probably are."

"…Thanks…" Heather said quietly, taking a small bite. Her eyes lit up at the taste to which she quickly ate the rest of it.

Laughing, Matt said "Pretty good huh?"

Heather smiled for the first time, which almost knocked Matt off his seat. Her face was beautiful and symmetrical, as was her smile. Her black hair was draped over her right shoulder and slightly covering her left eye. Wearing a brown tunic and a white long sleeved shirt, she was absolutely gorgeous. Matt couldn't help but smile back.

"Matt!" Hiccup's voice yelled above them "Who'd you find?"

Heather gasped as Hiccup and Astrid landed next to the ship. Running towards the dismounting riders, she yelled "Hiccup!? Astrid!? Is that you?"

Hiccup's and Astrid's face looked at her in shock. Astrid was the first to recover. "Heather? Wha-What are you doing here?"

Heather instantly hugged Astrid, who returned one of her own. "I was sailing to Healer's Island, but was boarded by some Berserkers." Looking at her ship, she continued "They took all my supplies, alchemy ingredients, and then they ran me aground! I've been stuck here for a whole day and night."

Astrid immediately took her coat off and wrapped Heather in it, causing Matt to curse himself realizing that he hadn't done anything to help with her being cold. Making sure she was warming up, Astrid asked "Alchemy ingredients? What were you doing with those?"

"I'm training to be a healer." Heather replied with a smile "That's why I was going to Healer's Island." Turning to Hiccup she said "I had no idea you guys were here!"

"Are you hurt?" Hiccup asked, walking up to Heather.

Giving Hiccup a hug, she replied "No…I'm fine." Heather breathed "But my ship? Well, I don't know what I'm going to do to get another one…"

Matt walked up to the three friends and asked "So…anyone going to clue me in on how you all know each other?"

Hiccup smiled at this, saying "Ah, that'd be helpful wouldn't it?" Turning to Heather he said "It's kind of a long story on how we met, but in short, it was because of Alvin. Alvin held her parents hostage to force her to learn about training dragons." Looking at Heather, he smiled broader "She succeeded too!"

Heather looked down with shame, to which Astrid smiled and pulled her chin back up "In the end it all worked out…"

"Ok, I remember you mentioned something about her last time I was here." Matt said nodding. "With the dragon book right?"

Hiccup smiled "Yup! After that whole fiasco ended, we all became friends and went from there."

Heather then spoke up, pointing to Matt "Ok, that's enough about me; what about this good looking guy? What's your story?"

Matt blushed at the 'good looking' comment. He probably would have stood right there without saying anything if Hiccup didn't push him closer to Heather. "Uh…well…" Matt stammered "I told the truth that I wasn't from here." Looking at Hiccup who motioned to carry on, Matt breathed heavily "I'm actually Hiccup's descendant. He's my something great grandpa and I've been blessed to actually get to know him personally."

Heather stared at him for a while, not sure how to take this. Looking at Hiccup she asked "Is he wrong in the head? Or is he actually telling the truth?"

Astrid was the first to respond "He's telling the truth. He's related to Hiccup."

"So…there ya go!" Matt said laughing "That's me in a nutshell."

"Not really." Hiccup threw in "He'll have to tell you all about his adventure he had last time he was here."

"Well…" Matt reluctantly said "It's not all that exciting."

"I'd still like to hear it." Heather said with a smile.

"Like I said, another time." Hiccup threw in, walking to Toothless and opening a saddle bag.

"So why are you guys exploring dragon island?" Heather asked Astrid.

"We're looking for Matt's dragon." Astrid replied, leaning against the ruins of the ship "It's been 6 years since we've last seen it."

"You're a dragon trainer too?" Heather asked with a smile.

Sighing, Matt started to walk over to his crossbow "I WAS a dragon trainer." Picking it up and brushing off the snow, he continued "That was 6 years ago. And then I left."

Heather realized that she had hit a sensitive spot with Matt, and instantly asked another question to try and mend what she started. "What kind of dragon is it?"

"A Skrill." Matt said looking at Heather. Smiling at her, he added "I'll be right back, I left my snowboard back there."

"A what?" Heather asked in confusion "Am I supposed to know what that is?"

"I'll fill her in." Astrid laughed, walking next to Heather "Go get your board."

Smiling, Matt quickly turned and walked behind the boulder.

Heather looked at Astrid "He's pretty sad isn't he."

"He feels useless without Wasatch." Astrid confirmed "That's his dragon's name."

Frowning, she said "Well…I wish I even knew where a Skrill would live. I'd like to help."

"Well, if you saw a massive thunderstorm that would be a good clue to where one is!" Hiccup said laughing, handing Heather a water pack.

Staring at Hiccup in disbelief, she reached for the water and then said "Hiccup…the Berserkers that stopped me were all following a storm cloud. I thought it was odd when I saw lightning in the middle of winter. Can a Skrill create lightning?"

Hiccup stared at Heather and then to Astrid. A lot quieter, he said "Astrid…they're after another Skrill."

"Why? Is that bad?" Heather asked, confused with the sudden change in tone.

"It's their symbol of power. Their icon." Hiccup said "They'll go on a rampage if they have a Skrill fighting with them."

Right at this moment, Matt walked around the boulder holding his snowboard seeing the three in deep discussion, he asked out loud "So what's got you guys so quiet?"

Looking at Matt, Hiccup replied "The Berserkers are chasing a Skrill…they're trying to capture a Skrill!"

Matt froze at this. Staring at the three, he asked "do…do we know if it's Wasatch?"

Hiccup only shook his head.

Matt suddenly kneeled down and began to strap his snowboard to his backpack. Looking up at the three, he said "We need to go follow that fleet. We need to get that Skrill before they do."

"You have no idea…" Hiccup said, walking to Toothless "If they get it, Dagur won't need Toothless. He'll use it to destroy Berk and attempt to kill us all."

Matt shouldered his backpack and began to walk to the dragons. "I'm ready to go."

"I'll have to show you the way they went." Heather threw in, following Astrid to Stormfly.

"Well, I guess you'll have to come along with us!" Hiccup smiled "Since we're not really good about leaving friends alone on an island."

"We'll I'm personally glad that you don't!" Heather laughed as she crawled behind Astrid.

After Matt finished securing his crossbow to Hiccup's saddle, he then jumped behind Hiccup announcing "Let's get going then! The Berserker's are getting farther away!"

The two dragons leapt into the air, immediately banking and turning back to the ocean.

* * *

After a few hours of flying, Hiccup shouted something that made every jump. "Hey! That's Eret's ship down there!"

Looking down, all four of them saw the unique ship cutting the waves.

"Follow me Astrid." Hiccup said, putting Toothless into a dive.

Only a few short seconds later, Hiccup landed on the ship, surprising everyone there.

"Hiccup!?" Eret's voice sounded. Coming out of the ship, Eret looked at him with confusion "What are you doing here?"

"Change in plans Eret." Hiccup said, dismounting Toothless "I need you to go back to Berk and get the entire Dragon Academy. We learned Dagur is trying to find a Skrill." Letting that sink in, he continued "Get everyone and start coming this way again. We're going to try and stop him before he can even catch it."

"I'll come with you." Eret replied "My men can pick up all the riders."

"And come back without Skull Crusher to help guide them?" Hiccup retorted "No, just go and do what I asked." Looking at Heather, he also added "Give this girl a coat and a bed roll. She's going to need it."

Almost instantly crew members began to throw their coats at Heather, hoping that she would take theirs.

Matt couldn't help but feel a little jealous, tempted to throw his own coat out there.

"Come as fast as you can…" Hiccup said, climbing back on Toothless "You're going to be our ticket out if we get in trouble."

"Don't worry Hiccup." Eret said walking closer to Toothless "We'll be right behind you!"

With that Toothless and Stormfly took off, flying in the same direction that they were going. Matt looked behind him to see the ship already beginning to turn around. Facing forward, Matt said to Hiccup "Think they'll be right behind us soon enough?"

"I'm counting on it…" Hiccup replied "If they get that Skrill…I don't think we can take it down."

"Are Skrills that tough?" Matt asked "I mean, Wasatch was a fighter, but I didn't think he could rival Toothless."

"You have no idea how strong a Skrill is." Hiccup said grimly "If we don't stop Dagur, we're looking at the possibility that Berk will be destroyed."


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you all for the support of follows and favorites! I'm glad that your enjoying this story. This was one that was a lot of fun to write, and I really enjoyed it. I hope you enjoy it as well. Now, as usual, please read and review! It seriously helps me when I know what you guys like so I can keep making stories and chapters that appeal to you! Well as per usual, enjoy!**

**Chapter Six: Great Plans, Poor Luck**

Matt just finished dropping an arm full of wood next to the fire that was kindly started by Stormfly. After telling Eret the plan and flying for the rest of the day, the group stopped on a small wooded island for the night. He saw that Astrid was busy sharpening her axe while Hiccup was staring at the map he was working on, obviously trying to chart where they were and to find out where they were going. Looking to his right, Matt saw Heather staring at the night sky. Smiling, he promptly sat himself next to Heather. "Long day huh." He said, looking at the shining stars.

"You can say that." Heather replied, never taking her eyes off the sky "From being marooned on an island to going on an adventure to stop some lunatics getting a dragon. Yeah, I'd say it's been a long day."

Matt looked at Heather smiling. "I guess when you put it that way, makes any day seem un-eventful…"

"What about your first day?" Heather asked, finally looking at him "You never told me about your first time coming here."

Matt looked back up in the sky. Debating on telling her everything, Matt finally started to say "Well…it's kind of a long story."

"Last I checked, we have all night." Heather said with a smile "Tell me everything!"

Smiling back at Heather, Matt replied "Fine. Twist my arm." Setting himself in a comfortable position, Matt began to say "So…before I came here, I was kind of a punk. Actually, not even kind of, I was definitely a punk. I only cared about one thing and was incredibly short-sighted in regards to aspects of life." Laughing quietly, he continued "Snowboarding was my life. I thought that nothing else mattered if I didn't become the best. Boy was I wrong." Pausing for a second, Matt added "On one occasion of going snowboarding, I got lost in a blizzard. I took shelter in a cave that I found and I noticed that it kept on going, opening into a cavern. Walking through it, I found…well I found Berk." Matt simply stated, turning to look at Heather in the eyes.

"Must have been a shock finding a whole world in a…cave." Heather replied, still doubting where Matt came from.

Sensing her doubt, Matt laughed and said "I swear I'm telling the truth." Pointing to Astrid, he added "Ask her! She did the exact same thing I did!"

Smiling, Heather said "Keep going. I'll ask her later."

Looking back at the sky, Matt continued his story "In short, I started to snowboard down the mountain from the cave I was in. That's when Hiccup and Astrid found me. I've never seen a dragon before, so I immediately ran away from them."

"Wait…" Heather interrupted "Your Hiccup's relative and never seen a dragon?"

Matt's face went somber "A lot's changed in the future…I don't know how, but there were no dragons where I was at."

Heather looked at him in confusion, but then said "I'm sorry I interrupted. Please, continue."

"Well having never seen a dragon, I tried to run away but ended up falling down a cliff." Laughing a little, he added "I still give Astrid and Hiccup a hard time about that." Looking at Heather, he then said "After Hiccup took me to his house, I learned who he was. My great something ancestor that tamed dragons. I couldn't believe it at first, but eventually everything calmed down in my mind."

"That's amazing." Heather replied "I'm sure my head would explode if I met someone from another time."

"Mine just about did." Matt affirmed "Since I couldn't get back home, I ended up staying with Hiccup and was learning how to train dragons. It was an experience that's for sure." Matt added, throwing himself back in time when he was trying all the dragons that the group had. "One day, we spotted Alvin coming. We assumed that he was trying to get the Dragon Book, so we hid it. However, Hiccup was captured and in order to get him free, I had to lie to Alvin that I had the book. He let Hiccup go and I took off boarding." Matt closed his eyes at this. "In short I was captured and taken to Outcast Island as a hostage. But, instead of letting Hiccup and the others have the time limit to give him the dragon book, Alvin threw me in the arena with a wild Skrill. I was almost killed a few times, but learned on accident how to train one. Or at least calm it."

"Must have been scary." Heather inserted, staring at Matt.

Nodding, Matt replied "It was. But I was able to train Wasatch, that's what I named the Skrill. It saved my life from Alvin and ultimately from drowning."

"Wait…how did it save you from drowning?" Heather asked, looking very confused.

"Hiccup and the gang busted me out of the arena I was in, but Alvin took Snotlout's Monstrous Nightmare, Hookfang. Riding that dragon, he chased me clear out to the ocean. We needed to get Alvin off of Hookfang, so I improvised a plan. I flew up high with Alvin chasing me, and then dropped on top of him." Matt said looking back at the starry night.

Matt remembered the maneuver he performed, realizing that so many things could have gone wrong. "Getting Alvin off Hookfang was easy, getting off of Alvin was hard. As I tried to separate from him, he slashed my leg so deep that it never really got better." Realizing he diverted a little, he quickly added "Wasatch never caught me falling, so Alvin and I crashed in the ocean. I can't remember a thing after that. So from what I'm told, Wasatch dove in after and grabbed me; so that's how he saved me from drowning."

"I saw you limping earlier tonight." Heather observed. Gesturing to his leg, she added "Is Alvin the reason why you limp?"

"The very reason." Matt said with a forced smile "Ruined my snowboarding career, but it did help me grow in life." Looking at Heather, he smiled wider and more naturally, finishing with "And that's my story! I went back home almost immediately after and been gone since."

"You know what…" Heather said, smiling at Matt "I believe you. And, by the way, your first day sounded a lot more eventful than what my day has become."

Smiling, Matt quickly replied "Yours doesn't pale though. You've gone through a lot in the past 24 hours!"

Laughing, Heather looked back at the camp. Both Hiccup and Astrid were leaning against Toothless pointing at the stars. "Looks like it's time to be getting to bed."

Matt nodded, starting to get up "I think we'll need to get an early start tomorrow to get an edge on the Berserkers." He stretched his hand out and helped her up.

"Well in that case I'll see you in the morning then!" Heather said smiling, grabbing her fur bed roll off of a tree branch.

"Sounds good." Matt replied, starting to walk to his bed roll. Stopping he turned as asked "Hey Heather…"

Turning to face Matt, Heather looked at him with surprised expression.

"I for one am glad that you came with us." Matt said sheepishly "Have a good night will ya?"

Smiling, Heather whispered "Thank you. You too Matt." and then turned to go to bed.

Smiling, Matt took off his coat and shirt and quickly jumped in his bed roll to escape the cold.

* * *

The sun was barely rising when the group was flying over the ocean. Sitting on the back of Toothless, Matt reached into his pocket and grabbed his last Clif Bar. Opening it, Matt glanced over at Heather who was sitting behind Astrid on Stormfly. Sighing, Matt whispered to Hiccup "Hey, pull over next to Heather for me will ya?"

Confused, Hiccup started to fly next to Astrid and Stormfly. Matt immediately extended the Clif Bar out to Heather, who smiled as she took it.

Flying back to where he was originally, Hiccup asked quietly "You really like her don't you?"

"Yeah…I do." Matt said sheepishly "Should have heard the conversation we were having last night."

"Well, Astrid and I both saw it." Hiccup said, laughing a little "It looked like a quality moment for both of you."

"You know, I think it was." Matt replied smiling.

"So…not trying to dampen your spirits, but what are you going to do when you have to leave? Are you going to leave?" Hiccup asked. "I mean, I personally hope you don't…"

That hit Matt hard. He didn't know what he was going to do, he hadn't really even thought of it honestly. "I…I haven't gotten that far yet." Matt replied, obviously conflicted.

"Don't think about it now." Hiccup said with a smile "Just enjoy the moment you're having."

Even though the sun was now out and the sky was once again a brilliant blue, Matt couldn't help but feel sad and a little anxious about the future. What would he do? Staring into nothing, Matt barely noticed something that seemed out of the ordinary. Recollecting himself, Matt adjusted his goggles and stared to the left. They were clouds, but black like storm clouds.

"Hiccup…" Matt said, sounding a little excited "What am I looking at?"

Hiccup immediately turned to see what Matt was talking about. Staring at the clouds, he said "Thunderstorms? In the winter?"

"I think we just found our Skrill!" Matt said laughing. Turning to Astrid and Heather, he yelled "Hey! Check it out to your left!"

The two instantly looked in the direction that Matt said. Astrid was the first to reply "Well…wouldn't hurt to check it out!"

"Follow my lead! If the Berserker's are there, I don't want to let them know we're coming." Hiccup shouted, putting Toothless into a steep dive. Roaring, the Night Fury responded with gladness to be doing something different than just flying in a straight line.

The two dragons cut through the air as they flew low to the ocean. With the speed gained from diving, they made up the distance real quick. Getting closer to the storm clouds, the group saw an island with a large mountain in the center of it. At the top of the mountain was where the black clouds were. It also being winter, the island was completely covered in snow.

"Hiccup! There!" Astrid shouted, pointing to the left of them.

Looking to where Astrid was pointing, Hiccup saw the Berserker fleet moored near the shore. "Quick! This way!" Hiccup yelled, banking Toothless to the right.

Matt immediately saw where they were going. To the back of the island. Weaving in between giant rock pillars, the two dragons and the riders hid in the cover of the monoliths. Upon arriving at the shore of the island, Matt saw a cave where they could hide in. Pointing to it, he yelled "Hiccup down there!"

Hiccup immediately guided Toothless down and landed smoothly in front of it. Dismounting Toothless, Hiccup grabbed his fire sword and used it as a torch to guide himself into the cave. Stormfly landed behind him and both Astrid and Heather dismounted.

Matt quickly grabbed his crossbow from Toothless' saddle and followed the girls, looking around him to make sure no one spotted them. Seeing that it was clear, Matt stared at the black clouds above. The lightning was a lot more prevalent and clearer up close. He could see several lightning strikes hit the mountain above them.

"All clear!" Hiccup's voice sounded "It goes back pretty far."

Following Astrid and Heather, Matt grabbed his flashlight out of his bag. Shining it behind them so they could see where they were going, Matt noticed that the cave dropped a little, kind of forming a small bowl.

"Well…what's the plan?" Astrid asked, squeezing against the wall of the cave to let the two dragons in.

"We wait until dark." Hiccup said, sitting on a good sized rock "We can't really do anything until then."

"I can climb the mountain and get to the Skrill." Matt suggested "That way the Berserker's won't have a chance at getting it!" Setting his flashlight in the middle of the cave, Matt let it give light all over. "I'll only be an hour tops."

"Or you just want to see if it's Wasatch." Astrid teased, lightly hitting Matt.

"Well…there's that too." Matt grinned, standing up to get moving.

"No." Hiccup said flatly "One of two things will happen. First, you'll probably get hit by lightning climbing up there; or two, you'll be spotted by the Berserker's who are all probably trying to get the Skrill as we speak."

"But I can do it! At least let me check to see if it's Wasatch!" Matt argued with anger in his voice.

"NO!" Hiccup said "This isn't up for debate Matt. I'll fly over the Berserker's camp tonight to see what we're up against. When I find out what, we'll all go up the mountain together."

Angry, Matt started to walk towards the entrance of the cave.

"I'm not kidding Matt! Don't you dare go outside!" Hiccup yelled following him.

"I'm just going to keep watch. I won't go anywhere, I promise. If anything I'm trustworthy…" Matt replied sharply, not even trying to make eye contact with Hiccup.

Hiccup sighed as he watched Matt take a seat near the entrance. He didn't know what to say to help ease the suddenly tight and intense feeling that filled the cave. Taking a seat near Astrid, he leaned his head against the wall and closed his eyes.

Heather looked at Astrid and then to Matt sitting alone. After only a few seconds, she immediately got up and walked to the still fuming watchman. Taking a seat next to Matt, she waited for him to say something first.

"I'm so sick of him putting me on the back burner." Matt said quietly, so that Hiccup and Astrid couldn't hear him. "This isn't the first time he's disregarded what I asked or said."

"Maybe because that's the leader in him." Heather suggested.

"You think that's it?" Matt shot back staring at Heather.

Heather was taken aback by the heated retort. Looking at Matt with concern, she added "No. I don't think it's all about that. I believe that he's also concerned for you and your safety."

Matt rolled his eyes at this comment.

"Think about it Matt…the last time you were here, you almost lost your leg. You almost lost your leg trying to save Hiccup. I'm sure that if something else happened to you that he would never forgive himself." Heather argued.

Matt just looked out of the cave, setting his crossbow on his lap. After a few minutes of silence he finally said "It's just frustrating. If it was another Night Fury, Hiccup would already be up there trying to help it." Looking back at Heather who never stopped looking at him, he added "I hope this Skrill is Wasatch, but even if it's not, I'm the only one that can train it and help it. Or at least know how to."

"Making you more irreplaceable…" Heather said, resting her hand on Matt's shoulder "Hiccup probably does what he does to you to make sure you'll be safe."

Looking at Heather, Matt finally smiled since they landed on the strange island. "Thanks Heather…" looking at Hiccup who was still sitting against the wall, he said "I guess I better apologize then huh?"

"I don't think it would hurt." Heather said with a smile. Getting up, she reached for his hand and pulled him up. "The sooner the better." She whispered.

Matt took a deep breath and walked up to Hiccup with Heather behind him. Astrid watched them with a smile, especially when Matt stood next to Hiccup.

Hearing Matt move made Hiccup open his eyes. Looking up at him, Hiccup tilted his head as if he was waiting for something.

Sighing, Matt extended his hand and whispered "I'm sorry Hiccup…Just a little anxious I guess…"

Smiling, Hiccup took the hand and was pulled up. Embracing each other, Hiccup said "I'm sorry too Matt…I just want to play it safe from here on out…I mean I have no idea when the others are going to be here and we can't risk getting captured by the Berserkers."

Nodding, Matt then asked "So...where are we on your map?"

Hiccup smiled as he pulled it out and began to unfold all the pages. "Let's find out shall we?"

Watching the two pour over the map, Astrid and Heather fist bumped each other. "You had success with him as well?" Heather asked, looking at Astrid.

"It was easy." Astrid said with a smile and gripping her axe "He can be pretty easy to convince when he's worried about something."

Laughing the two sat and watched the two boys continue to put the map together.

* * *

"Ok…here's what we're going to do." Hiccup said, drawing a rough sketch of the island on the dirt floor.

Though the day dragged, the sun finally went down and the moon was small enough not to give enough light that would compromise them when they went out.

"Toothless and I are going to do a silent fly by. Just to see what we're up against and to see what kind of defenses they have." Hiccup continued, drawing his flight path with a stick. "The rest of you will start heading up the mountain and wait up half way…stay out of range from the lightning."

"Will do Hiccup." Matt said, shouldering his crossbow. He also had his backpack with his snowboard on, just in case they had to flee the island.

"I'll meet you there after I check them out." Hiccup said, standing up "Any questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, all of them ready to go.

"Well then, let's get going!" Hiccup said smiling.

Following Hiccup out, Astrid quickly grabbed Hiccup and spun him around. "Be careful Hiccup."

Smiling, Hiccup kissed her on the forehead "Always…I'll be back before you can even think about me."

Looking up at Hiccup, Astrid nodded; still not smiling and her face written with concern.

Finally separating, Astrid and the others watched Hiccup and Toothless take off and started to climb higher into the night sky.

"He does blend well with the night doesn't he?" Matt observed as he lost track of where the Night Fury went.

"Almost too well." Heather replied, also scanning the night sky.

"Come on!" Astrid said, picking up her axe "Let's get going."

"Finally…" Matt muttered, following Heather and Stormfly.

Because it was a stealth mission, the group didn't ride Stormfly. Instead, they climbed the mountain slope. The climbing part was easy, it was keeping everyone from sliding that was the hard part. Every time they would stop to take a break, they would start sliding down the slope. After a few failed attempts at stopping to rest, the group decided to just push on and get to a good spot to sit, which was a struggle for Matt and his leg.

Seeing Heather starting to lose grip, Matt dug his snowboard boots in the snow and pushed on Heather's heal. Surprised by the sudden stop, Heather looked down to see Matt keeping her from sliding. "Thank you" She whispered, starting the climb again.

"Not a problem…" Matt replied with a smile, also resuming his climb after he slid a few feet down.

Astrid was using her axe to pull herself up. After a few minutes, she turned to Stormfly who was behind everyone. "Stormfly. Spikes!"

Almost instantly Stormfly threw the spikes on her tail and created a ladder-like path to a flat spot on the mountain.

Smiling, Matt whispered "That'll make life easier than struggling up this mountain side!

Astrid being the first on top, helped pull Heather and Matt up. Crawling to the side, Astrid immediately joked "Better stay away Matt…We're on a cliff face."

Laughing silently, Matt replied "Oh good…I was wondering when I was going to get my daily fall-off-a-cliff scene."

Heather couldn't help but giggle at this, now understanding why Matt teased Astrid about cliffs.

Crawling next to Astrid, Matt saw that they weren't exactly on a cliff face, but on a snowy overhang that had a 30 foot drop before getting to the snowy mountain slope. "This is way too dangerous." Matt whispered "This thing won't take much to fall over; and if that happens, well we might as well shoot ourselves in the head to save us the trouble of dying slowly."

Almost instantly, the group moved below the overhang, to which Matt said wasn't much better other than they were able to stand on solid ground. They also had a good view of the Berserker camp, which was almost directly underneath them.

"Have you guys noticed something?" Matt asked quietly. After receiving head shakes for answers, he observed "No thunderstorms…"

"Wait…you think tha-" Heather began to say.

"That the Berserkers got the Skrill?" Matt finished for her "I don't know; I hope not, it might have flown away. I mean nothing was really keeping it here."

"We'll just have to wait and see what Hiccup says." Astrid said, looking down at the Berserker camp.

After a few minutes of patient waiting, Heather asked "Where is he? Shouldn't he be here by now?"

Before Astrid could answer, Toothless silently landed where they were sitting.

"Well that's convenient." Matt said "We were literally just wondering where you were."

Hiccup didn't say anything, but just walked up to the group.

Realizing that something serious was going to be happening, Matt frowned a little. Only bad news could be the reason why Hiccup was quiet.

"They have the Skrill…" Hiccup stated. Then turning to Matt, he added "I couldn't tell if it was Wasatch, but that's beside the point. We need to get that Skrill free and away from the Berserkers."

Matt just stared at the Berserker camp that was below them. He knew he should have tried to get that Skrill.

"I do have a plan, but we'll only do it if we have everyone's consent." Hiccup said, looking at everyone.

"Don't need to ask me." Astrid said, leaning against her axe "I'm used to doing plans without knowing all the details.

"I get the hint." Matt said, looking at Astrid. Then turning to Hiccup, he added "I think you know where I stand."

"Count me in!" Heather said with a smile "Might as well have some fun after coming all this way."

Slightly smiling, Hiccup knelt down and began to lay out his plan. "Ok, so the Skrill is currently held in a heavy metal cage. Located in the center of the camp." Looking at Astrid, he continued "Astrid and I are going to be attacking the ships from the sea side, drawing all attention to us and leaving the back exposed."

"Giving us a chance to sneak in and free it." Matt finished.

"And get out." Hiccup added "If it is Wasatch, then feel free to fly away; if it isn't, well run like the God's fury is behind you and get back to the cave. When we see that the Skrill is free, then we'll come by and pick you up."

"Hiccup, I may have one suggestion…" Matt said stepping closer to the group "Maybe I should go myself. Have Heather wait to be picked up."

"Why!?" Heather asked in shock "Think I can't handle it?"

"Not at all…" Matt said, looking at Heather "But I think that I could get in and out a lot quicker by myself."

"But what would I do?" Heather asked angrily "I thought I was part of the plan!"

"Go on Matt…" Hiccup said, curious as to what Matt was talking about.

"I can board down right to the cage!" Matt said pointing to the Berserker camp. Looking at Heather, he added "I can be down there faster than if we walked at a closer distance."

Looking at the camp, and then back to Matt, Hiccup then said "Heather I'm sorry, but Matt has a point. He would be faster if he used his snowboard."

"So I just wait and see what happens?" Heather yelled throwing her hand up in the air "I can't believe this!"

Matt frowned, realizing that Heather was experiencing a little of what he felt earlier that day. Squaring up to Heather, he said "No…you can wait where we normally would be. You can help me get out of the camp since I'm sure I'll be spotted."

Looking at Matt, she glared and said "Not really what I had in mind."

"Matt is going to need help getting out." Astrid added. Grabbing Heather's arm, she said "Sometimes we have to play a lower role to fulfill a bigger plan."

"And sometimes it's because someone cares about someone else." Matt threw in, referring to the conversation that Heather had with him earlier. "I learned that from you…"

Staring at Matt, Heather sighed and said "Fine…I'll head down the mountain when Matt does. That should get me down there in time after Matt frees the Skrill."

Smiling, Hiccup faced the rest of the group. "You'll know the signal when you see it. Head down immediately when it happens."

"I'm guessing a giant blue fireball of death is the signal?" Matt replied sarcastically "I mean that's just a guess."

Smiling, Hiccup and Astrid got on their dragons. Looking at Matt, he said "Something like that." Having said that, he and Astrid took off and began to circle around the island to come behind the fleet.

Looking at Heather, Matt sighed and said "I'm sorry Heather, but I don't think I could have put you on my board and go down at the same time."

Staring at Matt, Heather replied with "I'm still plenty mad at you, but I understand what you mean. And also why you were upset earlier today."

Smiling, Matt quickly unstrapped his board from his back pack. Putting his crossbow on his back, Matt began to strap up the bindings on his board.

"So…after this, you'll have to let me try that thing." Heather said, observing the many straps that made up the bindings "It looks complicated."

"It's really not." Matt said smiling, finishing up tightening the bindings "When you get some practice in, it'll be almost second nature."

Heather sat down next to Matt, staring at the stars. After a few minutes of silence, she whispered "Be careful Matt…"

"Who me!?" Matt said in a teasing voice "I'm the definition of careful. Look at me! I'm sitting under a snowy overhang that can give in at any moment!"

Waiting for her response, Matt heard an explosion in the distance. Looking forward, he saw exactly what he predicted. A blue explosion in the middle of the fleet.

"Guess we better get going!" Matt said, standing up on his board.

Before he could even start sliding down the mountain side, he saw something that took his breath away. A lightning bolt coming from the camp hitting one of the dragons. "No…" Matt whispered, watching the silhouette fall. Shortly after, Matt heard the Night Fury's distinct scream as it hit high speeds in the distance; only to see another lightning bolt shoot out into the night sky.

"Did they just get…" Heather started saying. Before she could finish her sentence, a cheer roared from the camp, confirming their fear.

Looking at Matt, Heather asked "What do we do now!?"

Panicking, Matt began to look around for ideas. Looking up at the overhang, he smiled for a second and then quickly unstrapped his board. "I need you to go and free Hiccup and Astrid." Matt said "Go ahead and do as we planned, I'm going to create a distraction."

"Doing what!?" Heather shouted "Turning yourself in!?"

"As a matter of speaking" Matt said with a smile "I am, but I'm bringing a few thousands of tons of snow with me."

Looking at Matt and then the overhang, Heather finally put his idea together. "An avalanche!? Matt you'll be killed!"

"Not if I move with the snow." Matt said "That's why I'm bringing my snowboard."

"This is insane!" Heather began to argue, following Matt.

"Heather!" Matt shouted "We don't have a choice. Hiccup and Astrid are captured and probably hurt and we don't have a ride off this island unless we ask the Berserkers for one." Pointing down the mountain, he said "Just go and wait for the avalanche to slide past you. Get Hiccup and Astrid out with their dragons while I make the Berserker's world a little bit whiter."

Angry, Heather turned and began to jog and slide down the mountain. Watching her for a second to make sure she would be out of the way of the avalanche, Matt then began to strap back into his board. Standing on top of the snowy overhang, Matt took a deep breath and then jumped up with his board.

Landing on the snow didn't cause anything, making Matt panic a little bit. Trying again, Matt leapt up and stomped on the snow with his board on. Almost instantly Matt felt the ground give in. Landing with the snow, Matt began to surf with the massive slide that he created. The roar of the avalanche was getting louder and louder, as was the camp getting closer and closer.

Fighting to stay on top of the snow, Matt maneuvered his board back and forth on the moving surface. His leg was giving him so much grief, partly because of the hike before and now demanding it to maneuver a snowboard in an avalanche. Gritting his teeth, Matt ignored the snow that was being thrown in his face and the pain shooting in his leg.

Just as he was about to give in to the leg, Matt saw the snow crash into the camp. Relieved that he was finally off the mountain, Matt never saw a piece of a crate that caught his board's edge. His leg tired and the sudden change in direction caused him to fall forward on his face. Feeling the snow roll over him, Matt fought to get his head back out of the snow. Feeling himself slow down to a stop, Matt concluded that the avalanche finally ended. Moving his arms, he was able to dig himself out of the snow. Popping his head out, Matt realized that he was only a foot deep in the snow. Using what strength he had in his legs, Matt popped out his board out of the snow and unstrapped it. Standing up, Matt limped heavily into the camp. Grabbing the crossbow that was still strapped to his back, Matt looked for the cage of the Skrill.

Limping into the center of the camp, Matt saw the cage, but no Skrill.

"Looking for something?" A familiar, loathed voice sounded to his left.

Closing his eyes, Matt slowly faced the direction that the voice came from. Opening them, he saw a few things that made his heart sink.

Standing there with ropes as a harness, was Dagur, holding the Skrill that was hovering above him. Next to him was Astrid, Hiccup, and even Heather. They were on their knees with their hands tied behind their backs and mouths gagged. Behind them were Toothless and Stormfly in nets.

Looking at Heather, Dagur laughed saying "One of my guards found her running towards Hiccup and Astrid. The perfect trap!" At that he grabbed Heather's hair and pulled it back laughing.

"Leave her alone!" Matt yelled, taking a step towards Dagur.

Smiling Dagur let go of Heather and also took a step towards Matt. Looking at the snow covered destruction of his camp, he added "I'm impressed that you survived that avalanche! Not many of my men had the same luck as you."

Matt just stared at him with a fire burning inside him that was fueling his hatred towards Dagur. Finally getting his composure, Matt asked "So…what do you want."

"I want you to put down that crossbow…before I have Death Killer here shock your friends!" Dagur said with a smile.

Looking at the Skrill, Matt then came up with an idea. Looking at his crossbow, then back at Dagur, Matt pointed the crossbow at his own neck.

"Oh go ahead!" Dagur said laughing "Save me the trouble from torturing you."

Ignoring the comment, Matt said "How does that Skrill handle for you Dagur? Does it listen?"

Not sure of what Matt was getting at, Dagur stared at him for a few seconds. Raising an eyebrow, he asked "What are you getting at?"

Forcing a smile, Matt said "Dagur, my psychotic friend. Though Hiccup may be a dragon master, he never trained nor ever will train the dragon I have."

"Oh and what dragon was that?" Dagur asked, enjoying the conversation.

"A Skrill." Matt replied simply "Just like the one you have."

"Well…I'll pass on you training my Skrill." Dagur said simply. Then narrowing his eyes, he said "Now drop the crossbow!"

"Dagur," Matt replied, still pushing his plan "I'm not offering to train your Skrill, Death Killer. I'm offering to teach you how to train it."

Hiccup fought his bonds and tried yelling through his gag. This just caused Dagur to enjoy Matt's conversation even more. Looking at Matt, he said "Go on."

"I offer a trade. Me and my knowledge if you let everyone go." Matt said with a fake smile.

Almost immediately, Astrid, Hiccup, and Heather protested the trade though their gags. Dagur stared at them and then said "You know, I control my Skrill just fine with harnesses."

"Yeah? How well did that work out last time you had one?" Matt said. Not moving the crossbow pointed at his neck, Matt began to say "Think about it Dagur. Having a Skrill as a weapon is dangerous, but having a Skrill that's loyal? It's deadly. Let me tell you."

"So…you're proposing that I take you, and only you, if I release everyone here…" Dagur said thoughtfully. Looking at Matt, he asked "What if I deny your proposal?"

"You lose any chance of having a tame Skrill." Matt said, shaking the crossbow as a reminder.

With the angry protests from the three tied up prisoners, Dagur began to nod while thinking of the proposal at hand. Finally, after what seemed to be ages to Matt, Dagur said "Deal. You for the three and their dragons."

Hiccup began to stand up to which Dagur gently pushed back down. "Nope…Your staying tied up so you can't follow me."

"And you're going to load up your fleet before I get on board." Matt said "For some reason, I still don't trust you."

"Fine." Dagur said. Turning to the nearest guard, he ordered "Load up everything we can. We're leaving right now."

Matt stood there with the crossbow still aimed at his neck as the Berserkers moved around him, grabbing supplies and tents that weren't destroyed by the avalanche.

After an hour of loading up his camp, Dagur sent most of his fleet out to sea, leaving only one ship.

"Well…a deals a deal." Dagur said, smiling at Matt "Want to put that crossbow down?"

"Ungag them first, then I will." Matt said, pointing to Hiccup, Astrid, and Heather.

One of Dagur's men quickly took the gags out of their mouths which instantly led to an outcry of anger and panic.

"Matt stop!" Astrid yelled as soon as the gag was out of her mouth "He's playing you!"

"Don't do this!" Heather quickly followed up with, fighting the ropes that held her.

"Matt…why? Why did you do this?" Hiccup asked, pain in his voice. His face was written with panic and worry, knowing what was going to happen to Matt if he got on the ship with Dagur.

Not saying anything, Matt dropped the crossbow and tossed his goggles towards Hiccup. "Hold onto those for me will ya?" he said. Hiccup just stared back at Matt, unable to say anything.

Almost instantly, two Berserkers grabbed Matt and tied his arms behind his back. Being marched to Dagur, he stared at the insane man with anger in his eyes.

Hiccup yelled "Dagur! Stop! Please just leave Berk alone! Leave Matt alone!"

Dagur laughed at the helpless plea from Hiccup. Walking closer to Matt, he reached into Matt's coat pocket and found his taser. Smiling, Dagur quickly found out how to turn it on. "Welcome aboard Matt…" he whispered, bringing the taser into Matt's neck.

Matt's body completely locked up, making him fall onto the ground. Landing on his back, all he could do was stare at his three friends who were shouting words that he couldn't hear or understand. Screaming in pain, Matt slowly lost consciousness as the voltage continued to surge through his body.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: Lightning Does Strike the Same Place Twice**

Matt's black world slowly started to disappear and images were beginning to show very slowly, almost in black and white. Trying to shake himself awake, he felt his neck suddenly shoot pain down his body. Laying there with his eyes closed, Matt shifted his legs around only to be welcomed in a similar fashion. His bad leg rejected his brain's command and in turn shot pain back up his body.

Breathing heavily, Matt reopened his eyes and tried to look around without having to move his head. Everything still seemed grainy, but he quickly decided that was because his eyes still haven't adjusted. Resting for a few more minutes, Matt fought the pain that was both shooting through his neck and leg. His arms were also restrained by something and he couldn't remember why. Resting against a wall, Matt once again opened his eyes. A lot more slowly, he saw that he was on a ship. With that in his mind, he started to notice that he was bobbing up and down as if he was on the sea. Looking around, he then noticed that it was midday instead of night.

"Well…" A voice called out next to him "Looks like our friend is starting to wake up!"

"Dagur…" Matt thought to himself. It all came back to him, Hiccup and Astrid captured, surfing down an avalanche, holding himself hostage, and ultimately giving himself up to save his friends. Fighting the pain in his neck, Matt looked up to see Dagur standing over him with a wide and deranged smile.

"Morning Matt!" Dagur said laughing "You know…you don't look that well…are you sure you got enough sleep?"

"…Plenty…" Matt muttered, closing his eyes to give them a rest. Shifting his position again, Matt was caught off guard by his leg. Gritting his teeth, Matt breathed heavily to fight the pain. Letting his body adjust to the shock of not knowing where he was and the combination of pain that was shooting through his neck and leg; Matt then rested his head against the wall, or the side of the ship as he found out.

"Well…I know this is kind of a bad time" Dagur said, pretending to sympathetic "But we just arrived at a new island. We still have an hour or so left before we get off, but you better start getting your head in the game."

"Give me a minute…" Matt breathed loudly, trying to calm the pain. Opening his eyes again, Matt did a double check on his leg. Seeing that nothing was really wrong with it on the outside at least, Matt began to work his neck back and forth; trying to get used to the pain. After sufficiently working the pain out of his neck, Matt looked around again. The ship he was on was pretty small, more like a river boat. On the boat with him was Dagur and 5 other Berserkers. He also confirmed that his hands were still tied behind him.

"Well, I guess I should ask if you're comfortable." Dagur said, sounding slightly annoyed "Since you are a guest after all."

"Actually, I am pretty comfy." Matt replied sarcastically "Last time I was held hostage on a ship, I had all my stuff broken and was freezing to death." Looking at Dagur, he continued "I was in the ocean when I was picked up."

"We can still arrange that if you want." Dagur replied darkly, staring back at Matt

"I'll pass." Matt said. Looking around the ship, he asked "So…where are we?"

"Beats me." Dagur replied, looking down on Matt. Kneeling down next to him, he continued to say "We just chose this island at random."

Nodding lightly, Matt faced Dagur, saying "Well...when do you want to start training your Skrill?"

Smiling, Dagur said "Boy aren't you a go getter." Grabbing Matt by the arms, he hefted him up and stood him on his feet. "We'll start as soon as possible."

Fighting the pain in his leg as he was forced to stand, Matt looked at the island they arrived at. It was barren with snow everywhere; the few trees standing were burned. On top of that, there were lightning storms everywhere. It honestly reminded him of Outcast Island. Looking at Dagur, he asked "So…does the burned trees and nothing growing not concern you? Or the lightning?"

"Nope." Dagur said, breathing in the cold air "I think it's a perfect place for training a deadly dragon." Looking at the small ship ahead of them, he said "As far as the lightning goes well…that's all coming from Death Killer."

"Great." Matt said flatly, staring at the desolate landscape. The boat ahead of them had a massive cage, to which he concluded held Death Killer. He also noticed 5 other boats sailing next to the one he was on.

"Where's your fleet?" Matt asked, looking around in confusion "You had a lot more ships last I checked…"

Laughing, Dagur replied "I left them a few miles back. If Hiccup does find us, he'll be looking in the wrong place."

Not saying anything, Matt continued to observe the desolate island.

"So…Skrill Master." Dagur asked, breaking up the silence "What's the first thing we need to do?"

"Well…when we land, we need to build an arena." Matt said, still scanning the lifeless island.

"We don't have time to build a full size arena!" Dagur said angrily, fuming at Matt.

"It doesn't have to be fancy." Matt replied "Just something that will keep the Skrill from flying away and in a circular pen."

"That will at least take a day to build!" Dagur roared, drawing his sword and pointing it at Matt.

"You really want to do that?" Matt said, squaring up to Dagur with his arms still tied behind. "You want to lose your only chance at training your Skrill?" Then he added "You're the one that's going to train this dragon, not me. So if you want to try and train it without restricting its flight or limiting where it can go, go right ahead! I'm not going to stop you."

Fuming, Dagur slowly and reluctantly sheathed his sword. "What. Else. Do we have to do to train this dragon…" he said with venom in his voice.

"Still have my taser?" Matt asked, trying to act unfazed by the threat.

Dagur pulled out Matt's taser from a bag that was strapped to him. "This thing?" he asked.

"That very thing." Matt replied "You'll need it to shock the Skrill to calm it down. At least I shocked my Skrill when I trained it."

Looking at the taser, Dagur then reached forward and shocked Matt in the neck.

Falling limp, Matt crashed on the floor of the ship. His leg was burning with pain as was his neck again. Looking up at Dagur, Matt started to say through the pain "By the way…this is no guarantee. There is still a chance that you'll be killed by Skrill."

Kneeling down, Dagur whispered "You better hope that I train it…because you'll be Death Killer's next victim if I don't." Looking up and away from Matt, Dagur yelled "Start heading up that river. We're going inland so that no one can find us!"

Rolling back up, Matt fought through the pain as he watched Dagur give orders. Letting his anger take control, he shouted "Maybe I won't help! Train it on your own for all I care!"

Smiling, Dagur slowly turned to face Matt. After a few seconds of staring at Matt, he shouted to a boat to come closer. Matt, failing to stand on his feet, saw the boat arrive. Reaching over the edge, he pulled up something that made Matt gasp and flare up with anger. It was Heather. With her hands also tied behind her back, she didn't even dare look at Matt.

"After I took you onboard," Dagur said laughing, pulling Heather over to his boat "I realized that I needed to have some kind of insurance to make sure you'll do what you agreed to. With that said, as long as you do what I need, nothing will happen to her. That I promise."

Staring helplessly at Dagur, Matt nodded. Barely audible, he said "I'll make sure you'll train your dragon…"

Smiling smugly Dagur pushed Heather towards Matt, causing her to stumble. Matt did his best to help Heather back up. Sitting next to her, Matt whispered "Are you alright? Did they hurt you?"

Shaking her head, Heather replied quietly "I'm fine, and no they didn't hurt me…they just kept me on a separate ship…"

Sighing, Matt apologized "I'm so sorry…I should have known Dagur would have done something like that…"

Forcing a smile, Heather said "Don't feel bad, what you did to help Hiccup and Astrid will help us in the end I'm sure."

"But I pulled you into it!" Matt argued, looking up into the sky with regret on his face. "I should have just left you on the mountain."

"Matt!" Heather said angrily "I chose to help in the plan! I was the one that fell into Dagur's trap!" Scooting closer to him, Heather continued saying "And Dagur would have just taken Astrid or Hiccup. Maybe even the dragons!"

Frowning, Matt looked at Heather with sadness written all over his face. "I guess I should have come up with a better plan huh?"

"You can always blame the plan when it fails." Heather said in a caring way.

Finally smiling naturally since he woke up, Matt looked at Heather and said "Thank you…you always know what to say. You know me pretty well for just meeting me a few days ago…"

Smiling, Heather laid her head on Matt's shoulder closing her eyes.

* * *

Hiccup's hands were released by Valka. Rubbing his wrists to get the blood flowing again, He turned to see Astrid being untied by Eret. The twins and Fishlegs were busy getting the nets off Toothless and Stormfly. Snotlout was busy searching around the remains of the Berserker camp.

After they were untied, both Hiccup and Astrid were given blankets to wrap around themselves. Since the spent a cold night on the shore. It was lucky for them to be found by Eret and the rest of the Dragon Academy.

"Hiccup!" Valka said, grabbing her son and pulling him into a hug "What happened?"

"We need to get going. RIGHT NOW!" Hiccup shouted, pulling away from his mom and dropping the blanket.

"Hiccup. What happened?" Eret asked, grabbing Hiccup and holding him until he calmed down "Where's Matt? What about the girl that was with you?"

"That's why we need to go!" Hiccup shouted, struggling to get free.

Astrid quickly jumped in "Dagur took him and Heather prisoner! He's having Matt train his Skrill!"

"They got a Skrill!?" Snotlout gasped, walking up to the group with Matt's snowboard in hand.

Astrid nodded fervently while walking to Stormfly, who was just freed from her net. "We were shot down by it and Matt offered himself to train the Skrill in exchange for our lives." Patting Stormfly, she added "They took Heather too!"

"Heathers here!?" Snotlout shouted excitedly "Did she ask about me?"

"Not a good time Snotlout!" Astrid yelled, facing him.

"Yes and that's why they're both in trouble!" Hiccup yelled. Jumping on Toothless, he was just about to take off until Astrid shouted "Hiccup! We have no idea where they went! We need to come up with a plan on how to find them!"

Stopping, Hiccup stared at the ocean. It was true. They had no idea where the Berserker's went. Sitting back, Hiccup just looked at the ocean with a blank stare. How was he going to find Matt and Heather?

Astrid noticed something on the ground next to Toothless. Walking to it, Astrid saw that it was Matt's goggles that he dropped. Grabbing them, she walked over to Hiccup who seemed to be frozen in his saddle. Handing them to him, she whispered "I'm sorry Hiccup…"

Hiccup looked at the goggles. Taking them from Astrid, he stared at them for a little bit.

Everyone gathered around Toothless and Hiccup, unsure of what Hiccup wanted to do. Upon walking up to him, they were surprised that he was smiling.

"Hiccup…" Valka asked, resting her hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

"More than alright!" Hiccup said, looking up from Matt's goggles "Eret! Get Skull Crusher over here!"

In less than a second Eret had Skull Crusher right next to Hiccup and Toothless. Holding the goggles next to Skull Crusher's nose, he whispered "Come on old friend, find him for me…" Almost immediately, the dragon started to roar and began to take off; giving Eret only a few seconds to climb on.

Hiccup shouted "Everyone! Let's go get Matt and Heather back! He knew we could follow him!"

As everyone climbed onto their dragons, Astrid walked Stormfly next to Hiccup.

"Thank you Astrid." Hiccup said, looking at her.

"Thank me when we get them back." Astrid said with a smile, taking off immediately after she finished talking.

Hiccup and Toothless both launched into the air, fueled by the energy that their friends were in danger and with the possibility that they could save them.

* * *

Matt looked at the scores of men who were shoveling a shallow hole, making the ground level. Those that weren't flattening the ground were arranging wooden posts in a circle, forming the walls of the temporary arena. Sighing, Matt guessed that they would be done before the day was through at the rate they were going. Standing beside him was Heather, their hands were still tied behind their backs.

Just as Dagur ordered, the small flotilla of boats sailed up a river for about an hour. Now for sure hidden on the island, Dagur began to order his men to build the arena. That was about two hours ago.

"Is your leg doing better?" Heather asked, looking at Matt.

Nodding, Matt replied "Tons. After a night of riding avalanches, sleeping on it wrong, and falling down multiple times, it just needed a few hours of rest to get its strength back."

Smiling, Heather then asked "So…is that Skrill Wasatch?"

Shaking his head, Matt said "No it isn't. That Skrill is just purple all over, Wasatch has black stripes along his back." Looking at Heather, he added "Plus that Skrill didn't respond when I called out to it."

Looking back at Matt, Heather was about to say something when Dagur's voice interrupted.

"Well…it's not perfect, but it should do the job." Dagur said loudly, lazily walking towards Matt and Heather. Two of his men followed him as well. Standing in between them, he grabbed them both by wrapping his arms around them and pulling them in like they were friends. "Just think…in a few hours, I'll be riding the most powerful dragon known!"

Matt didn't say anything. It was true that Dagur would be riding a strong dragon, but the most powerful? Not by a longshot.

Releasing them, Dagur pointed to the heavy metal cage sitting in the middle of the arena. "That's Death Killer. Soon to be my loyal pet!" Dagur almost sang at the thought of flying a Skrill. Turning quickly to Matt, he asked "So. What's the first thing I do when I get in the arena with him?"

Matt shrugged and said "Don't die. That's usually what you start out with."

Laughing, Dagur drew his sword and pointed it at Heather. Asking again, this time without the playful tone "Your funny Matt…but I was quite serious with that question."

"Leave her out of this." Matt said, walking to Dagur "I don't joke around to mess with a friend's life."

"Then tell me what I need to do!" Dagur said angrily, poking Heather with his sword, who backed off quickly.

"I wasn't joking when I said 'don't die'." Matt argued "You have to play cat and mouse with it!"

Dagur looked at him strangely. Lowering the sword, he asked "Cat and mouse?"

Rolling his eyes, Matt rephrased his example. "Dragon and sheep. You have to run around a little bit, showing it that you're strong enough to survive."

"Oh I see…" Dagur said, nodding. Sheathing the sword, Dagur asked "What did you do?"

"Me?" Matt asked in surprise. Thinking for a second, he said "I did a lot of rolling and diving. Wasatch liked to shoot lightning more than making physical contact."

"Wasatch?" Dagur asked, again confused.

Sighing heavily, Matt said "My Skrill. The one that I trained." Looking at the cage, Matt added "The only difference between Wasatch and Death Killer is Wasatch had black stripes along his back."

"Ooh!" Dagur said excitedly "Sounds menacing."

"All dragons are." Matt said, staring at Dagur "Each one is a fighter in its own way with its own style. That's why I can't say it'll be the same training Death Killer like it was Wasatch. For all I know, he could be the opposite of Wasatch, where he likes to physically beat his prey."

Smiling, Dagur brushed off the comment and asked "So how long do I run around for?"

Matt shrugged, saying "Depends on how much fight you have. I ran until I quite literally gave up. That's when I accidently shocked him and calmed him down."

Smiling even broader, Dagur pulled out the taser. Matt prepared himself to get shocked when he saw Dagur turn it on for a second.

"Don't worry Matt, I've had my fun with you." Dagur said. Looking at Heather, he added "As much as I want to shock your friend, you've done everything I've asked. So I won't."

"Thanks." Matt said, anger rising inside of him.

"So, that's it? That's all you did?" Dagur asked, staring down Matt.

Shrugging, Matt nodded, saying "That's all I did."

Dagur immediately turned to his men that were with him, telling them "Make sure they stay put. I don't want them wandering anywhere too far."

Matt and Heather were then led to a tent on a small hill, overlooking where the arena was being built. Pushed inside, they were forced to sit on some crates.

Staring at Heather, Matt whispered "I'm sorry…I'm trying to stall, but I can't do it without putting you in harm's way." to which Heather whispered back "Not your fault. The guy is insane."

Looking through the open flap, Matt thought to himself "Hiccup…if you're going to be coming, sooner will definitely be better."

* * *

Hiccup and the entire gang landed on a rock pillar. Grabbing his telescope, he peered through it. The Berserker Fleet was already setting up camp on the beach, this time away from mountains with snow on them. More inland of the island, he saw multiple storm clouds with lightning striking everywhere.

"He's got to be in there somewhere…" Astrid said out loud, scanning the moored fleet.

"I don't think so…" Eret replied. Holding back Skull Crusher, he added "Skull Crusher here is pretty adamant to keep on going."

Astrid turned to Hiccup, who looked back at the fleet. "If he and Heather are in there, it'll be a nightmare to get them out. Especially if they have that Skrill harnessed up."

"But if they aren't there…" Fishlegs added "We might have missed our chance of finding and saving them."

"Hiccup…" Valka said, walking Cloud Jumper next to Toothless "Regardless of what we choose, the same amount of time will be spent. Trust your feelings and think a little less."

At this Hiccup looked back at Eret, who was having a rough time holding back his dragon. Sighing, he said "Let's follow Skull Crusher a little more. He's never failed in finding his target before, so let's not doubt him now."

"I hope we find Matt soon." Snotlout said out loud "I'm getting sick of carrying his snowboard." He patted the snowboard that was tied to his back to show everyone he still had it.

"Yes." Astrid replied sarcastically "Since that is such a burden."

"Hey, I wanted the responsibility to save Heather, not haul Matt's stuff that he leaves behind." Snotlout argued.

Astrid and Hiccup both glared at him, to which he just brushed off with a wink to Astrid.

Breathing heavily, Hiccup shouted to the riders. "Ok guys, as soon as we see Matt and Heather, the plan is to get in and get out. Nice and simple. I don't want any heroics or fights after we get them."

Everyone agreed with a unanimous 'Got it!'; other than Snotlout who said he'd focus on Heather.

Looking at Eret, Hiccup nodded and took off into the air, shortly followed by Eret and the other riders.

As they were flying inland, Fishlegs made the comment "Is all this lightning coming from that Skrill?"

"I hope so!" Ruffnut shouted excitedly "I love Skrills for that very reason!"

Hiccup frowned as he flew low to the ground. The Skrill last night did pull lightning out of the sky, but not this much. "What are you doing Dagur?" Hiccup whispered, thinking Dagur was doing something to cause this.

* * *

"It's show time Matt!" Dagur said walking into the tent with his arms raised in a triumphant manner "We just finished up the last touches on the arena!"

Matt just looked up and nodded, not saying anything or showing any excitement.

Having his men escort the Matt and Heather towards the arena, Dagur led the small party out of the tent and down the hill. Being late afternoon, the sun still shone brightly down on them, adding some warmth to the winter weather. The storm clouds around the island almost seemed to converge over them. Looking up, Matt saw lightning lighting up the sky.

As Matt approached the arena, he saw that instead of chains and metal bars for the ceiling, it was laid with heavy nets that were intertwined with each other. The actual pit was about 4 feet deep and with the posts sticking out of the ground, gave a clearance of about 10 to 12 feet.

"That didn't take you long at all." Matt said quietly, observing the handiwork.

"Just half a day!" Dagur said excitedly. Walking towards the gate into the shrewdly built arena, he said "Do I bring any weapons?"

"What do you think?" Matt replied, raising an eye brow.

Frowning, Dagur dropped his sword, dagger, crossbow and multiple bolas. Making sure the taser was in short reach, he looked at Matt and asked "This better?"

Nodding, Matt quietly said "You're ready."

Smiling widely from ear to ear, Dagur walked into the arena. One of his men was next to the cage, ready to open the door to release the Skrill. Staring at the cage, Dagur shouted "Open it!"

Almost instantly, as the cage door was unlocked, The Skrill burst out of the cage and began to fly against the nets. Realizing it couldn't get through, the Skrill landed and began to charge up with electricity.

Matt and Heather just stared at the unique dragon. It made Matt wish even more to have Wasatch with him. For one reason to get him and Heather out of Dagur's reaches, and another to fight the lunatic.

"Death Killer!" Dagger shouted, running up to the dragon "How's my friend doing?"

"He's not your friend yet!" Matt shouted "Get moving! Catch his attention!"

At that Dagur immediately began to run around the arena, waving his arms and shouting.

The Skrill immediately stared at the insane Viking, and began to chase him. Spewing lightning out of its mouth, Dagur rolled just in time to let the white bolt smash into the muddy bank of the makeshift arena.

"Is this what it was like for you?" Heather asked quietly, looking at Matt.

Nodding, Matt replied "Almost exactly."

Dagur finished his roll and stood back up. Squaring up to the Skrill, Dagur yelled "Come on! I dodged Terrible Terrors that were more accurate than that!"

The Skrill immediately shrieked and rushed Dagur. Anticipating it, Dagur ran at the Skrill and slid in the mud, sliding under the enraged dragon. Standing up, Dagur grabbed a handful of mud and threw it at the Skrill, hitting it square in the back of the head. Turning to face Dagur, the Skrill fired lightning out of its mouth again. This time in a sweeping motion. Dagur barely ducked under the line of lightning. Rolling onto his feet, Dagur looked up just in time to see the Skrill's tail smash into his face. Rolling away, Dagur ended up on his back. Looking up, he saw the Skrill standing over him. Quickly lifting his legs, he kicked at the angry dragon, causing it to take a step back.

"Use the taser!" Matt yelled, watching the events quickly turn in favor of the Skrill. As much as he wanted Dagur dead he knew that if Dagur did die, he and Heather were going to be next.

Grabbing the taser, Dagur immediately reached at the dragon, only to be hit with the one of the wings. Rolling on the ground, Dagur dropped the taser.

Matt stared at what was going on with horror on his face. Yelling, he said "Come on Dagur! I told you it wasn't going to be easy, but you got that thing in a harness before! Come on!"

Picking himself up, Dagur saw where the taser had landed. Looking at the Skrill, he saw that it was circling around him, trying to push him into the center of the arena. Doing so put the Skrill in between Dagur and the taser. Gritting his teeth, Dagur rushed the Skrill. The Skrill responded by having a lightning bolt shot at him. Jumping above the bolt, Dagur was splattered with mud as the bolt collided into the ground. Taking another jump, Dagur leapt over the Skrill. Landing next to the taser, he grabbed and swung it around full swing. Turning it on, he hit the Skrill in the side. Shocking it for a second, Dagur pulled the taser away and stared at the Skrill, who almost immediately calmed down. Staring at Dagur, the Skrill walked slowly up to him and shocked him.

Taken back by the shock, Dagur was about to hit the Skrill, only to be stopped by Matt. "Wait! That's a good thing!" Matt shouted "He's building a bond with you! Shock him back!"

Dagur instantly brought the taser into the Skrill's neck shocking it for a few seconds. The Skrill roared, and with happiness shocked Dagur for a few seconds as well. Dropping to his knees, Dagur stared at the Skrill. Smiling, he reached out his hand and rested it on the dragon's forehead.

"Your mine now Death Killer…" Dagur whispered evilly. Laughing manically, Dagur took a few steps back. Following, the Skrill walked next to him. Walking to the side of Death Killer, Dagur slowly climbed on him. Setting himself on the neck of the dragon, he yelled "I did it! The Skrill is mine!"

While all the men cheered, Matt and Heather stared at him. Whispering out loud, Matt said "What did I just do…"

Riding Death Killer out of the arena, Dagur yelled "Bring the prisoners to me!"

Escorted by a group of Berserkers, Matt and Heather stood in front of Dagur and his new Skrill.

"Well…I made sure that you trained your Skrill." Matt said, looking over the sheer pleasure and madness on Dagur's face. "Will you let us go? Or at least leave us here?" Though he was serious with his question, Matt knew that Dagur had no intention of releasing them.

"Well…" Dagur said methodically "I might release you Matt…since you helped me train Death Killer here." Petting his dragon, he continued "But the girl? She didn't do anything to help."

"Leave her out of this!" Matt said, taking a step forward "You promised that if I helped you, nothing would happen to her!"

"That was before I trained the Skrill." Dagur replied laughing "Now that that's been fulfilled, you're free to go!" Looking at his men, he signaled to untie Matt.

Feeling his hands freed, he yelled "I'm not leaving without her! Either you keep me and let her go, or release both of us."

"Well, I guess I could come up with a compromise." Dagur said darkly "You see, I'm excited to test out what a Skrill can do to a Viking." Looking at Heather who had fear over her face, he continued "And since you buried most of my men in an avalanche, I can't test it on them."

Matt quickly looked at Heather and then back to Dagur "No! That wasn't part of the deal!"

"Listen to all of what I have to say first." Dagur said raising his hand to silence Matt "If she survives, she can leave with you."

"No!" Matt yelled standing in front of Heather.

Shrugging, Dagur said "Well…I wasn't really asking." With that, he had Death Killer hit Matt with his tail.

Landing hard on the icy ground, Matt yelled at Heather "Go! Run!"

Heather instantly took off running with her hands still tied behind her. Matt got up and took off running as well, ignoring what pain he had in his leg.

"Oh I love it when they run! Makes it more fun to watch!" Dagur laughed maniacally, getting off of Death Killer. Pointing to Heather, who was starting to run up a hill, he said to his dragon "Kill her." Charging up with electricity, the Skrill fired a massive lightning bolt out of its mouth.

Time seemed to freeze for Heather, who turned around to see the Skrill charging up. Panicking, she also saw Matt dive and shove her to the ground. Staring at Matt as she fell, she saw the lightning bolt strike him square in the back. Roaring in pain, Matt collapsed on the snow, smoke rising from his back.

"Matt!" Heather screamed as she rolled onto her feet "Matt say something!" Matt just moaned in pain, his hands gripping the ground. When Heather got a good look at him, she gasped saying "Oh my gods…" The lightning bolt had completely destroyed his coat and burned his back. With her hands still tied, she couldn't even lift his head to comfort him.

"Heather…run…" Matt gasped, burying his face in the snow to try and hide from the pain.

"Well…not really what I had planned." Dagur said shrugging "But can't argue with results." Walking his dragon to the fallen snowboarder, Dagur looked at Heather who was trying to get her hands free. Looking back at Death Killer, he said "Finish them."

The Skrill started to charge up, to which Heather looked at in despair. This was really the end.


	8. Chapter 8

**Special shout out to those who have reviewed the story as well as pm'd me with ideas, suggestions, or general feedback:**  
ProwlHawthorne  
TheWhisperingWarrior  
dreaming-about-dragons  
movielover48  
Kxguldut (Guest)  
boy0004  
Toothless is best  
**As per usual, enjoy!**

**Chapter Eight: So Close, but oh so Late**

Heather stared at the dragon, charging up with electricity. Unable to do anything, she closed her eyes.

"What the!?" Dagur's voice yelled. Heather heard a whoosh of air fly over her. Opening her eyes, she saw a four winged dragon with a rider on it fly over, creating a small whirlwind. On top of that, other dragons were flying over, strafing the ground and burning down tents. Realizing who they were, Heather shouted "Hey! Over here! I need help! Astrid! Anyone!"

Dagur stared at the dragons and yelled "Death Killer! Shoot all those dragons down!"

Death Killer aimed at one of the new dragons, only to be hit with a blue fireball. The Skrill rolled away at the hit, as was Dagur who was blown to the side. Heather looked behind her to see Hiccup and Toothless land next to her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, she ran to Hiccup yelling "Matt's hurt pretty bad! I need help getting him out of here!"

Jumping off of Toothless, Hiccup ran to where Matt lay in the snow. "Matt!" He cried when he ran up to his groaning friend "Hang on, we're getting you out of here!" Looking at Heather, he quickly untied her arms. "Help me carry him to Toothless!" He shouted, trying to move Matt around. Flipping him over onto his back, Hiccup cradled Matt's head. Just looking at his eyes, Hiccup could tell that he was losing him. His eye's dilating wildly, Matt tried to point at something above them. "Don't worry Matt…we're getting you out of here!" Hiccup yelled again, trying to reaffirm in his mind that Matt would be ok.

"I don't think so Hiccup." Dagur's voice called out. Looking up, Hiccup saw Dagur riding on his Skrill and walking towards them. "I was hoping to run into you again soon" Dagur added "I just didn't think this soon."

"I'll kill you!" Hiccup shouted standing up "I'll kill you for what you did to Matt!" At this, Toothless ran next to Hiccup, growling angrily at Death Killer.

Smiling, Dagur replied "He did that to himself. He was free."

"Liar!" Hiccup spat, anger written all over his face.

Smiling, Dagur turned to his Skrill, saying "Finish the Night Fury first Death Killer, then we'll deal with the other ones." The Skrill instantly responded by firing a bolt of lightning at Toothless.

Hiccup shouted for Toothless to get out of the way. Just as Toothless dodged the lightning, Death Killer fired another one. Inevitably going to hit Toothless; a brilliant white flash suddenly appeared, blinding everyone temporally. With his eyes re-adjusting, Hiccup gasped at what he saw. Hovering between Toothless and Death Killer, who was thrown back quite a few yards away, was another Skrill. Seeing the Skrill, Hiccup shouted at Heather "The Skrill absorbed the lightning bolt that was meant for Toothless!"

The Skrill promptly landed, turning away from the recovering Death Killer; that was struggling to get back up. Walking up to Matt who was trying his hardest to raise his hand to touch the dragon, the Skrill lowered his head. Heather, fearing the dragon was going to mean harm to Matt, stood in its way. "I won't let you touch him!"

Surprised, the Skrill simply pushed her over and continued to lower his head into the weakly raised hand. Sniffing the fallen snowboarder, the Skrill began to nuzzle at his hand, which ended up falling back down into the snow.

Hiccup pulled Heather up, taking a step back from what was going on. Then, seeing the black stripes running down the back, he shouted "That's Wasatch! I can't believe it! Wasatch is here!"

"Good!" Dagur yelled, standing up from where he had fallen "I'll get two Skrills before the day is through!" Turning to his dragon, he yelled "Death Killer! Get up you stupid dragon and get me that Skrill!"

Wasatch immediately roared at Death Killer who was starting to run at him, causing lightning to radiate from his body. Death Killer started to back off, roaring equally loud.

Before Hiccup could say anything, another massive flash went off. The two Skrills were firing lightning bolts at each other, causing each bolt to get bigger and bigger.

"Toothless! Come over here!" Hiccup shouted, running to Matt. Checking Matt's heart, Hiccup yelled "He's unconscious now! We need to get him out of here!"

Just as Hiccup and Heather lifted Matt up, Toothless crawled under him. Letting Toothless pick Matt up the rest of the way, Hiccup turned to Heather. "I can't take you and Matt at the same time!"

"Go!" Heather yelled, pushing Hiccup onto Toothless. "He's dying! Get him out of here!"

"I'll have someone pick you!" Hiccup yelled, taking off into the air with Matt draped over the saddle.

Just as Hiccup left, Heather heard a loud crack. Turning around, saw the two Skrill's having one continuous lightning bolt hitting each other. Wasatch then started to crawl towards Death Killer, pushing the lightning closer to Death Killer. Doing so was making the lightning brighter the closer they got to each other. Only feet away, Wasatch swung around, hitting Death Killer under the chin with his tail. This caused the massive lightning bolt to be fired randomly into the air. Watching Death Killer fall backwards, Wasatch turned to see Toothless fly away. Roaring, Wasatch shot into the air, following.

After watching the spectacle, Heather noticed a black object lying in the snow. Reaching, she grabbed it. "Matt's taser!" She said out loud

"I do believe that's mine." Dagur said walking up to Heather "As I do believe your mine as well!"

Stepping back to get away from the lunatic, Heather suddenly felt herself yanked into the air. Regaining her sense of direction, she turned to see Snotlout holding her in his arms.

"Relax baby!" Snotlout said confidently "Snotlout's got you safe!"

Groaning, Heather muttered "Maybe Dagur wasn't that bad of an option after all…"

Looking behind her, she could see Astrid and the others following closely, leaving behind them a column of smoke of where the Berserker camp was.

Flying next to Snotlout, Astrid yelled "Where's Hiccup?"

Looking at Astrid, Heather replied loudly "Taking Matt! He's really hurt!"

Staring at Heather, Astrid asked "Was it Dagur?"

Heather could only cry. When Astrid saw this, she added "Don't worry…We'll get even with him."

Looking down at Matt's taser, and then looking back up; Heather could see the Skrill flying alongside Toothless. Thinking to herself, she said "I don't think we can ever get 'even' after this."

* * *

Hiccup was the first to arrive at Eret's ship. Landing, he quickly grabbed Matt's unconscious body and carried him to a clear spot on the deck. Rolling him over so that Matt was laying on his stomach, Hiccup saw exactly how bad his back was. With the snowboard coat basically melted away, Matt's back was black from the charred flesh and red with blood from the open wounds.

At this point everyone else landed on the ship. Running to Matt, Astrid saw the wound and immediately began to take off his coat. Valka quickly began to assist Astrid, helping slip his arms out of the sleeves.

"Hiccup!" Eret yelled "Where are we going?"

"We're going to Berk!" Hiccup replied loudly "We need to get Gothi!"

Nodding, Eret immediately began to issue orders.

Looking at Matt, Hiccup just stared at the now charred back. Suddenly a roar sounded behind him. Turning around, he saw Wasatch land on the ship and began to walk to Matt.

Running, Hiccup stopped the dragon. Staring into the Skrill's eyes, Hiccup whispered "He's just a little hurt…Give him some time to recover ok?"

Rubbing the head of the Skrill, Hiccup looked back to see Astrid and Valka finish up taking whatever clothes Matt had on his upper body. The blood began to pool up on his back, causing some of it to stream down onto the deck of the ship.

"Matt!" Heather shouted, running through the crowd of dragons and dragon riders. Kneeling down, she carefully observed Matt's back. Turning to Astrid she yelled "I need moist rags and towels now! We need to make sure this burn doesn't get infected!"

Nodding, both Valka and Astrid ran to get the towels. Turning to Eret, she said "I need a bowl and something to grind things with. Do you have something that will work?"

"I'm sure we do." Eret said, running inside his ship.

"I need help putting him on an elevated flat surface!" Heather said, turning to the rest of the group. "Like a table."

Finding a table, Snotlout and Fishlegs gently laid Matt on it.

Heather, who had the moist towels at this point began to lay them over the burned back. Eret then walked up and handed her a bowl and a small wood block. "That's all we had. Hope it helps."

"It will." Heather said, graciously taking the bowl and block. Setting them down, she asked "Do we have any kind of lavender flowers or tree oil?"

Eret shook his head, saying "I'm 'fraid not. The only kind of herb we have is a barrel of dragon fire leaves. And that's because it helps dragons if they ignited their flames inside of them."

"Bring me them!" Heather said excitedly "I think they'll help me do what I need to."

Eret immediately ordered his men to grab the barrel. At this, Hiccup left Wasatch and walked up to Heather. "Forgot you were training to be a healer. Thank you."

Not looking up, she said "I only learned basic things, so I'm only going to be able to stop his back from being infected, but as far as the pain…" She put her hand on Matt's hand that lay almost lifeless "I don't have anything or the knowledge to be able to do that yet."

"What about Night Fury saliva?" Hiccup said with a little excitement in the fact that he might be able to help Matt "That stuff has amazing healing properties!"

Looking up at Hiccup, Heather quickly replied "Not until the wounds start to close. I can't risk infection getting in the burn. But that is good to know! Maybe we can repair his back from scarring as bad."

Nodding, Hiccup stared at Matt. The towels and rags were starting to seep with blood, to which Hiccup started to walk away, covering his eyes and sobbing.

Astrid, who was sitting and watching Hiccup, stood up to comfort him. Grabbing him, she pulled him close to her, running her fingers through his hair. "Hiccup…I'm here…don't worry…He'll be alright…"

Heather watching this, started to cry too; which she quickly turned away. She didn't want anyone to see her cry as well. Looking at Matt, she thought to herself that it was honestly a miracle that he was still alive. She was surprised when Eret handed her a container full of dragon fire leaves, with the barrel set down next to her. Thanking Eret, she began to pound away at the leaves in her little bowl, adding water and other liquids into it occasionally.

"Dagur's going to pay for this…" Hiccup growled, looking up at Matt "It was his fault that Matt even came back here!"

"No it wasn't" Heather whispered quietly, still working away at the leaves. "It was my fault."

Shocked Hiccup and Astrid simultaneously asked "How!?"

Looking at Hiccup with sorrow in her eyes, she said "Dagur let him go when he trained his Skrill. Matt was free! Dagur was going to keep me as a target to test his Skrill's power." Looking down at Matt, she said "He pushed me out of the way when…" Her voice trailed off, only to choke on her tears. Returning her attention to the bowl, she started to pound furiously away at remains of the leaves.

"Heather…" Astrid said softly, moving next to her "That wasn't your fault…" turning to Hiccup with a look of 'get over here and help me', she continued saying "Matt would have done that anyways! Even if he wasn't free!"

Hiccup then put his hand on Heather's shoulder. Resting it there, he added "There is no one I know that is more selfless than Matt. Whenever it comes down to it, he always seems to one up himself with what he does to sacrifice for his friends." Looking down at Matt, he continued "Because of him I was freed from Alvin. I felt like it was my fault the entire time Alvin had him and especially after when he injured his leg. But looking back on that now, I say that it's just part of him. It's what he does for those he cares about. He can't help it when he sees those he loves in danger."

Nodding slightly, Heather looked up at Hiccup and Astrid, whispering "Thank you…"

Smiling, the two nodded back in return, acknowledging the compliment. After a few minutes of silence, Heather turned to the two standing next to her. "Can you help me take off the towels? They're saturated with blood and I'm going to have to pour this on his back." She said lifting up the bowl that she used to grind the leaves.

Nodding, the two started to slowly take the towels off. Astrid gagged as she lifted on one towel, releasing the smell of burned skin. Setting the blood soaked towels down, Astrid and Hiccup watched as Heather slowly poured the liquid on Matt' back. She then said "It's a good thing he's not awake for this part. I'm sure he would have felt every single drop."

Watching the liquid get absorbed into the wound, Hiccup asked "How will this help the burns?"

"It'll get down into the spots where the wound is open." Heather replied, focusing on how much she poured "Then it'll harden and help close the wound."

"Like a scab." Hiccup pointed, nodding in agreement with Heather's treatment

"Yes, except it's a lot easier to come off." Heather said who finished pouring the liquid "Unlike a scab, it doesn't really stick to the body, it just helps the body by protecting the open parts until it can heal itself."

"Still, it gives Matt a chance." Astrid said, resting her hand on Matt's shoulder.

"If the wounds close up, we can use that dragon saliva Hiccup." Heather said, sitting down to make a new bowl of the liquid "And do you remember the small wooded island where we stayed the night?"

Nodding, Hiccup just looked at Heather, waiting for more instruction.

"There were Lavender flowers there, as well as some white pedal flowers. I'm going to need both to make an ointment to layer on his back. I think if I mix it with your dragon saliva, it may help him recover faster." Heather said with a hopeful look. Looking to Astrid, she said "If you go with him, we can get more here. I'll then be able to make larger quantities of it, so that we can keep on applying a fresh layer." Looking at Matt, Heather added "Who knows, it might even help with the pain."

Nodding, the two walked to their dragons. "We'll probably be back at tonight, but we'll hurry." Hiccup said, climbing on Toothless.

Astrid who just finished jumping on Stormfly added "He'll be back later tonight. I'll only be a few hours." With that she smirked at Hiccup who was staring at her.

"Challenge accepted!" Hiccup said, smiling back at Astrid. With that, the two took off, flying to the island.

Wasatch, who was sitting patiently; started to crawl towards Matt, still strewn on the table. Heather didn't get in the way this time, but did stay close in case the dragon was going to do something that would jeopardize the Matt's healing.

Sniffing at Matt's back, Wasatch let out a cry that pierced the air. Heather never thought of it before, but dragons obviously care for their trainers as much as friends and family do! Regardless of how long they haven't seen each other. Wasatch was demonstrating that right in front of her.

The Skrill then laid its head down, facing where Matt's head lay. Staying put, Wasatch acted as guard for his wounded trainer, ready to defend him if needed.

Heather, touched by the action of the dragon, walked up slowly to it. Reaching her hand out, she started to rub one of the spikes. "I didn't say this earlier" Heather whispered "But thank you for saving us. The day would've ended a lot differently if you hadn't come."

In return, Wasatch looked up at Heather and then shocked her lightly, as if communicating a thank you for helping Matt.

Smiling, Heather returned to her seat and began to work on the other bowl of liquid to pour on Matt's back.

* * *

Matt could feel the sun beat down on his face. It was the first time he actually remembered feeling something for who knows how long. Laying wherever he was, Matt started to stir. Almost immediately, he felt as if fire was running down his back. Too weak to even groan, Matt just lay there motionless; living with the hell that seemed to be on his back. It was sometime before Matt could even get the gumption to open his eyes, and only when he felt his hand suddenly get moist and was being moved slightly.

Forcing his eyes to crack open, Matt saw a large purple and black dinosaur, licking his hand that was hanging off of whatever he was laying on. Closing his eyes, Matt was so confused at seeing a dinosaur. "What the…where am I?" he thought to himself.

Then he heard a familiar voice say "Wasatch! Let him rest! He's in no shape to visit right now!" It was Hiccup's voice.

After recognizing Hiccup's voice, Matt began to hear other things as well. He could hear water splashing against something. He could also hear multiple people talking, some in conversation and others giving orders. Then it hit him. "Wasatch…" he moaned, taking what energy he had. The dinosaur he saw was his dragon Wasatch!

Hearing the dragon quietly slip away, Matt began to twitch his hand. He wanted Wasatch to come over. He wanted him to stay near.

"Uh…Heather!" Hiccup's voice called out "I think Matt's waking up! He's starting to move!"

Matt could hear a pandemonium near where he was laying. Picturing what was going on in his head, Matt thought that a mob was going to run him down. He then heard Eret's voice yell "Come on now! My crew shouldn't have left their posts! Get back to work!"

With that Matt could hear a number of moaning's and people talking angrily. Relieved at the sound of people leaving, Matt thought to himself "Ok…why is it hard for me to wake up? Why do I feel like I'm on fire?" These were just some of the thoughts running through his head. Focusing, Matt began to flutter his eyes open. The light blinded him, causing him to shut them tight again. Cursing to himself, he heard Astrid's voice "Did you see that! He's waking up!"

"I'm TRYING to wake up…" Matt thought in his head. Then a thought came to him. Forgetting to open his eyes and even move, Matt whispered "Wa..Wasatch…"

"Get Wasatch over here!" Hiccup yelled, hearing what Matt was saying.

Matt could hear something crawl closely to him. Waiting to a second, he then felt something sniffing him. Weakly smiling, he whispered "Wasatch…"

A roar sounded, which if he was awake, would have made him jump. Feeling his hand being pushed, Matt started to do scratching movements with his fingers. Feeling them rub a rough surface, Matt forced his eyes open. There, resting his head in Matt's hand, was Wasatch. His dragon.

"Matt!" Hiccup said, visibly relaxing himself "Heh, your finally awake!"

Groaning, Matt tried to push himself up, only to have that same burning feeling on his back. Laying back down on his stomach, Matt looked up at Hiccup. "What happened? What's going on with me?"

Hiccup looked back at him with a grim face. After a few seconds, Hiccup said "You took a lightning bolt to the back. Remember? You pushed Heather away…"

Eyes wide open now, Matt asked "Where is she!? Is she ok?" The sudden stress of thinking about Heather made him push up, ignoring the burning on his back. Closing his eyes, Matt fought through the pain to sit up on the table. Dropping his legs over the table he was laying on, Matt clenched his teeth to fight back the pain.

"Matt! Stop moving!" Heather's voice sounded.

Looking around, Matt almost felt the pain disappear when he saw Heather run towards him. As soon as she got to him, he whispered "I'm so glad you're ok..."

"Save it!" Heather shouted, opening a container full of putty like substance. "Right now, just focus on not moving! I honestly should make you lay back down."

"Yeah, not happening…" Matt groaned, his attention returning to the pain on his back. Looking at Hiccup he asked "I remember the lightning bolt now, I'm guessing it got my back?"

Nodding Hiccup said "Yeah, it's going to be a bit of time before you return to your old self."

"They say two months, but I'd give it four tops." Astrid said, walking up to Matt.

"Astrid…it's so good to see you…" Matt said with a weak smile. "Is it really that bad?"

"Well…" Astrid began to say, but was interrupted by Heather.

"Sit still. I'm applying an ointment." With that, she started to gently rub the putty stuff on his back.

"EERAAAAGGGGHHHH" Matt yelled, arching his back in pain. Almost instantly Wasatch pressed his head on Matt's chest, trying to comfort him and keep him from moving away from the pain.

Hiccup and the entire gang just stared at Matt who was still yelling in pain. At one point, Snotlout and Eret had to hold him still so that Heather could gently rub the ointment on. It seemed like an eternity to Matt.

After the ordeal was over, and most of the riders left; Matt was still sitting up on the table, with the pain so great that he was hunched over trying to even be able to cope with it. On his back though was a purplish layer of goop. Heather, who was wiping her hands in a rag said "It was a lot easier to do when you weren't awake."

"Yeah…I bet it was!" Matt said through shut eyes and clenched teeth.

Astrid then spoke up "In answer to your question, your back is looking better than it did originally! It was black and red when we started working on it. Now it's just black. With purple stuff on it."

"Well that's good to hear." Matt responded sarcastically, taking a deep breath as the burning sensation started to build up "How long ago was that?"

"Two days." Astrid replied simply, taking a seat by Matt.

"Has it been that long?" Matt asked in surprise.

"Well, actually two and a half days." Astrid said with a smile.

"It was a good thing though." Hiccup said sitting on a barrel across from Matt. "That was enough time for your back to finally close up all those open burns you had. With Heather's help of course."

Turning to Heather, he said "Thank you. How long have you been working on my back?"

Shrugging, she said "Two and a half days"

Smiling, Matt again whispered "Thank you." The pain started to die, allowing Matt to breath normally again. Looking back at Hiccup, he said "So how did you get us? I mean, the last I remember was getting hit by Death Killer and-"

"We literally showed up seconds after that happened." Hiccup said, interrupting Matt "We came too late by mere seconds…"

"Well…you came. And you saved us." Matt said, smiling the best he could "I can live with a burned back."

"More like charred back." Astrid said "It's not really going to be subtle when it heals."

Looking at Astrid, Matt said "Regardless of outcome, thank you for coming." At that, Wasatch stuck his head in front of Matt's, almost smiling. Laughing lightly, so he didn't disturb the back any more than he had to, Matt added "And you too Wasatch. I guess I should thank you as well…"

"No Matt, I think it's us that need to give you thanks." Hiccup said standing up. Astrid and Heather both stood beside him, looking at Matt. "We would have more than likely been killed by Dagur if you hadn't persuaded him to take you."

Astrid added "On top of that, you did help save Berk earlier and us again." Smiling, she continued "With a gutsy plan of course."

"And you almost laid your life down for someone you barely knew." Heather threw into the list "That and a number of other things, deserves more than a 'thank you'."

Matt stared at his friends, all smiling at him. Looking at Wasatch, he asked him "Did you tell them to say that? Are you in this too?"

The Skrill just roared and shocked him lightly, causing him to jump slightly.

Relishing back in pain, Matt spluttered "Ah. Yeah. Forgot that's how we bond. Oooohhh…"

"Then you might need this." Heather said with a large smile. She then handed the taser back over to Matt.

Staring at the taser, Matt looked at Heather and asked "How did you get this back?"

"Dagur dropped it when Wasatch showed up." Heather replied "He's the one to thank for that."

Looking at Wasatch, Matt grinned and turned on the taser. Shocking the dragon, Matt laughed as the Skrill backed up for a second. Surprised by the sudden jolt, the Skrill screeched and began to rub into Matt's chest.

Laughing, Matt kept on shocking the dragon, who ended up spinning in circles on the deck with happiness. Looking at the three friends, he quietly said "Thank you...Thank you for…well, saving me first off, and for everything else!"

"No problem Matt, it's the least we can do after all you've done for us." Hiccup smiled.

Looking at the sea, Matt then asked "So…how long until we reach Berk?"

"Tomorrow." Hiccup replied "Especially with this fair wind."

"Do we know if the Berserkers are coming?" Matt asked.

Sighing, Astrid said "It's not a matter of if they attack, it's when they attack."

Looking at Astrid, Matt then said "Because they have a trained Skrill now huh?"

Astrid didn't say anything, to which Hiccup replied "They were going to be come regardless if the Skrill was trained or not. It's really only a matter of time before they come again."

Breathing heavily, Matt closed his eyes. At this he continued to say "But now they have a real threat. Not only to Berk but anyone they come across. All because I helped train Death Killer."

"Hey!" Hiccup said loudly "You didn't have a choice! He held Heather hostage to force you to help train his Skrill!"

Not saying anything, Matt just stared at the deck of the ship.

"Matt…this isn't your fault." Heather said quietly, resting her hand on Matt's knee.

"Regardless if it's anyone's fault." Matt said looking into Heather's eyes "It's my problem. I created it, and now Wasatch and I are going to end it."

"No you're not!" Hiccup said firmly.

"Hiccup!" Matt yelled, having a jolt of pain shoot through his back "This time I'm doing what I want. I'm doing what I need to do!"

"No you're not! For two reasons!" Hiccup replied, standing up.

"Oh here we go again. What other reasons Hiccup?" Matt spat back, slowly sitting up straighter.

Breathing loudly, Hiccup said "First. I'm the chief. I am bound to fight Dagur by code. I have to be the one to fight him first. Second. Wasatch will be useless against Death Killer. They were both fighting each other when we pulled you out off the island, and neither one did any damage to each other."

Matt stared at Hiccup, waiting for him to finish.

Seeing that Matt was listening, Hiccup continued "The lightning they shot at each other just got absorbed."

"It wasn't until Wasatch hit Death Killer with his tail." Heather threw in. "Skrill's can only fight other Skrills physically!"

Looking down, Matt didn't say anything, to which Hiccup said "Matt…I know you want to fix what you think you started, but it just makes sense that Toothless and I fight Dagur."

"How long did it take you to get shot down?" Matt asked, not looking up.

Hiccup didn't say anything. He just stared at Matt, wishing he would just listen for once.

"Hiccup. I understand that you don't want me to fight Dagur. But if you think that I'm going to sit back and watch you get killed by him, you have another thought coming." Matt said adamantly "I know that you're trying to protect me, but I'm going to have to protect you with this one." Looking at Astrid and Heather, Matt added "And if it be that Wasatch has to get a little physical, let it happen."

Wasatch roared at that, having electricity run up and down his back.

Hiccup looked at Matt. Staring at the determination in his eyes, Hiccup finally said "I just don't want you to get hurt."

Laughing, Matt winced in pain as he said "Look at me Hiccup! I'm already cooked! There's not much more left of me to get burned!"

Hiccup frowned at the joke. About to say something, he was interrupted by Astrid.

"Oh for the love of-" She whined "You both need each other!" Facing Hiccup, she said "Hiccup! It'll be suicide if you try to take Dagur on by yourself!" Looking at Matt, she yelled "You almost died and are just now barely recovering! You would be killed instantly if you tried to fight Dagur."

Staring at Astrid, Matt turned to Hiccup saying. "Does the chief code say anything about having help?"

Shaking his head, Hiccup said "No, but it's clear that I have to fight him first." Looking at Matt he added "I'm not going to talk you out of fighting Dagur, but I will ask you to let me start the fight."

Thinking, Matt ended up shrugging, saying "That's the closest I'll get then. Deal."

At that, Heather stood up and gently started to push Matt around. "Now that that's settled, it's time for round two of the ointment."

Matt quickly whimpered at the thought, saying "You want me to lay down this time don't you?"

Smiling, she answered "For the sake of keeping you still, that would probably be best."

Helping him lay down, Heather faced Hiccup and Astrid, asking "Mind holding him down for me?"

"Great." Matt muttered face down in a pillow "I can't wait to begin."


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: More than a Wound to Heal**

"I can't stand it anymore!" Matt yelled, kicking over a crate which caused him to wince in pain. Walking around the Great Hall in Berk, Matt continued his raging tirade. "Hiccup and Astrid are an hour late! Shouldn't we be worried?"

Having arrived at Berk one week ago, Matt was stuck on the sidelines of recovering while Hiccup and the others were scouting around; trying to find Dagur's fleet.

"Matt calm down!" Heather yelled, watching Matt pace back and forth "That's not helping anyone! Especially you!"

Matt glared at Heather, saying "Listen, I'm better! I can fly a dragon! Let me help look for them!"

"Oh really?" Heather said, glaring back at Matt "Jump on that table right now. If you can do it without hurting yourself, I'll let you go ride. In fact, I'll help you saddle Wasatch."

Matt looked at the table Heather was pointing at. Jogging ever so slowly, Matt leapt up in the air. Bashing his shins against it, Matt fell forwards, barley keeping himself from falling on the ground. The very act of jumping caused Matt to cringe at the pain that shot through his back

"Yup. You're definitely better." Heather said sarcastically shaking her head. Walking to the fuming Matt, she guided him to a chair. "Come on…we need to apply the ointment again."

"I'm sick of sitting here doing nothing!" Matt said loudly slumping into the chair, which he immediately regretted doing as his back lit up with the burning feeling again. "I should at least be training to fight. Even fly! I haven't flown Wasatch for 6 years!"

Even though he was still incredibly tender, Matt's back was healing a lot faster with Gothi's experience and Heather's diligence in helping Matt. When Gothi observed Matt's back, she was impressed with what Heather had done to help the healing process with what limited resources she had. Since then, Gothi spent most of her time teaching Heather her remedies and secrets, letting her apply them to Matt as practice. Gothi not only taught Heather a pain remedy, but also a more effective burn ointment. Heather then mixed it with the Night Fury saliva and created something that was working a lot more effectively.

"Easy Matt, you're pushing it again." Heather said, observing Matt's back. With the black, charred skin scraped off; Heather could only see fleshy pink skin, still recovering from the lightning bolt that Matt took. "You're putting too much stress on the closed wounds. They're going to open back up if you don't slow down." With that said, she pulled out a container full of the burn ointment.

Sighing, Matt put his face in his hands, to which he winced as Heather began to rub the ointment into the burns. Even though it was healing quickly, Matt's back had chunks of it missing; so that if one rubbed their hand on it like what Heather was doing, they would feel a rough surface like a gravel road. "Why can't it not hurt? I don't mind my back looking like someone carved canyons in me, but why does it have to hurt?"

"Because if it didn't, it wouldn't be called an injury." Heather replied with no sympathy, still rubbing in the ointment "Besides that, it would mean you weren't healing if you couldn't feel anything." Pausing for a second, she then added "Or you lost all feeling in your back; and since that's not the case, consider yourself lucky!"

"You're a horrible tease, you know that?" Matt said staring back at Heather.

Laughing a little, she started to comfort him with "Matt…Hiccup and Astrid are late probably for the same reason they were late a few days ago."

"Like what? Another sick dragon washed up on a shore of a random island?" Matt said "I don't think that would happen again so soon."

Making sure she was covering the entire back with the ointment, she continued saying "You know what I mean. They got distracted. Maybe even bringing a new dragon back."

"Or Dagur got the jump on them." Matt said huffing. Turning to Heather he asked "Am I the only one that thinks like this during war?"

"We're not at war." Heather said with a frown, putting the lid on the container "We're preparing for one."

"Hard to see the difference." Matt replied quietly. After letting the ointment dry, Matt stood up and started to walk out of the Great Hall. Grabbing a heavy, red wool shirt, Matt tenderly slid it on. Wincing in pain, Matt took a few deep breaths and then strapped on a leather belt, dyed black, across his chest. Attached to the belt was a spot for his taser, which Hiccup borrowed for an unknown reason; and a sheath for a dagger, which Astrid gave to him.

Making sure they weren't rubbing hard against his back, Matt started to walk out of the doors.

"Ok…where are you going?" Heather asked, following Matt.

"Just for a walk." Matt replied casually, starting to cautiously step down the giant stone steps "I need to get used to moving around with my back anyways."

Shaking her head, Heather shouted at Matt "I'll be right down! I need to clean up a few things."

"Don't worry! I don't think I'll get too far." Matt shouted back, focused on the steps that were ahead of him. After getting to the bottom, Matt looked up to see if Heather was still there. Seeing that she went inside, he briskly walked over to behind a building to see Wasatch sleeping; all saddled up with his bindings strapped tightly on.

Grinning, Matt woke up his friend by whispering "Ready bud? Ready to go fly?"

Almost instantly the Skrill stood up, roaring with the thought of finally going flying with his trainer.

"Shh Shhhh!" Matt said, putting his finger over his lips "Can't let Heather know that we're going to do this until AFTER we get up in the air."

Relaxing, the Skrill laid on the ground to help Matt get on. Bracing himself by leaning against the wall, Matt slowly and painfully strapped himself into the bindings. Making sure they were secure, Matt then proceeded to balance himself on the Skrill. As he did so, pain shot up through his back as he depended on it to keep his balance. Gritting his teeth, Matt fought the pain as his shirt then rubbed against the pink flesh. Waiting for the pain to die down, Matt whispered to Wasatch "Ok bud…nice and easy. I need to re-learn how to do this in the most painless way possible…"

Wasatch responded by slowly rising into the air, allowing Matt to adjust himself as the Skrill flew. Matt laughed out loud as the Skrill flew gently over the village and towards the ocean. It quickly reminded him of when he last went flying. Something that he longed for since he left 6 years ago. Kneeling down slowly, Matt rubbed Wasatch and whispered "It's good to be back with you buddy…" Wasatch just roared, acknowledging that he felt the same way. Looking ahead, Matt slowly stood back up, holding his arms out like he was flying. Cheering like he was a 10 year old on a roller coaster for the first time, Matt looked down at Wasatch, Matt said "Well let's see what we can do!"

Keeping his balance, Matt focused on just staying up. It surprised him by how much it was like snowboarding. Smiling broadly, Matt ignored the pain that was lightly going up and down his back. Fortunately, his leg wasn't giving him any trouble; which would make it unnecessarily difficult for Matt to focus on his balance. Letting Wasatch fly next to the rocky cliffs above the sea, Matt leaned slightly to the right, digging his toes forward just like as if he was snowboarding. He felt the Skrill respond by lazily banking right. Laughing, he yelled "Alright Wasatch, let's try carving a little harder!" With that, Matt leaned hard left; causing his back to protest immediately. Groaning, Matt quickly backed off the turn. Kneeling down on Wasatch to try and escape the pain, he quickly said "Looks like I'm still not ready to do some serious riding yet buddy."

"I could have told you that!" A voice shouted above him.

Looking up in shock, Matt saw Astrid and Hiccup both looking down on him.

"Ah…I see that you guys came back…" Matt said, trying his best to mask the pain. "Just enjoying a small flight!" Faking a laugh, Matt quickly looked away and put his hand on his back to try and curb the pain.

"Matt! What are you doing? Your back still needs time to recover!" Hiccup shouted, having Toothless fly next to him. "You're not even able to really maneuver on him!"

"I had to find out what I can and can't do!" Matt replied angrily "I'm not going to find out by sitting all day." Looking to Astrid who was flying on his other side, he kept on saying "I'm in pain, I'll admit; but I was also in pain sitting doing nothing. I might as well be doing something if I'm going to be hurting anyways."

"Explain that to Heather." Hiccup said "We're going back right now!"

Breathing loudly, Matt yelled "Not yet!" With that, he urged Wasatch to start climbing higher by raising his front foot up; guiding Wasatch into the sky. Even though his back felt like someone poured gas on it and lit it with a match, Matt ignored it; spurred on by the fact that Hiccup wasn't going to let him fly and that he just wanted to ride on Wasatch.

"Matt!" Hiccup yelled, chasing after him "Land right now before I make you!"

Turning around, Matt frowned. If his back wasn't killing him, he would try to outfly Hiccup. But Hiccup was right about one thing, he couldn't maneuver very well without hurting himself. "Fine!" He shouted back.

Leveling out from his climb, Matt glided over the village; making wide, slow circles to descend from the new height he flew too. Hiccup and Astrid were escorting him, making sure he was doing what he said he was doing. Getting closer to the village, Matt saw Heather staring up at him. Seeing that she was quite upset, Matt moaned at the thought of the wrath he was going to be facing. His back still felt like it was on fire after guiding Wasatch to climb rapidly.

Wasatch did his best to land softly, hovering above the ground and slowly lowering himself. Feeling Wasatch touch down, Matt kneeled down and slowly unstrapped the bindings. After getting out of the bindings, Matt sat down on Wasatch's neck. Looking at Hiccup and Astrid who landed next to him, he asked "Mind helping me down? I may have over done it when we flew higher."

Hiccup and Astrid were about to help Matt down when Heather's voice shouted "No! Don't you dare help him!" Marching in between the two, Heather looked at Matt, who in turn looked at her with a small smile; knowing he was in huge trouble. "If he could saddle Wasatch and get on him, then let him get off. If he really can't, then take his saddle away until he's healed completely!"

Seeing what was at stake, Matt frowned, saying "That's not really fair Heather. I didn't-"

"I don't care!" Heather shouted, anger spewing out with the words "If you can't even get off of your own dragon, you shouldn't be riding anyways!"

Staring at Heather, Matt gestured to Wasatch to get as low as possible. Laying on the ground, the Skrill did his best to help Matt. Breathing loudly, Matt lifted his leg and rolled over Wasatch's neck. Losing his balance, Matt crashed onto the ground. His back suddenly flared up with pain. Quickly rolling onto his stomach, Matt lay there face down in the snow and holding his back with his hands.

Both Hiccup and Astrid ran to pick him up, seeing his body visibly shake from the pain. Gently, lifting him out of the snow, Hiccup said "That's why you can't fly."

Eyes closed and teeth clenched shut, Matt quickly retorted "No, that's exactly why I can fly." Opening his eyes, he looked at Heather "I got down by myself. I get to keep on riding."

"That wasn't what I meant about getting down." Heather asked, walking up to Matt "How did you even get your saddle on Wasatch?"

Looking at Heather, Matt smiled through the pain. "That's what I was trying to say! I never put my saddle on by myself!" Turning to Astrid, he continued "I had a little help from someone."

Hiccup and Heather immediately stared at Astrid who smirked back at them. "Why did you help him!? That could have jeopardized his back!" Heather shouted.

Hiccup then added "Astrid! Why didn't you stop him?" Then a thought hit him. Staring at Astrid, Hiccup said "That's why you were stalling us coming back! You kept us from coming back on time so that Matt could get on Wasatch!"

Smirking, Astrid nodded "Yup. I knew that he could get away from Heather, but not you."

"But why!?" Hiccup said angrily.

"Because he CAN fly." Astrid answered defiantly "Look, he may still have a tender back, but he still flew Wasatch. He got on by himself, and sort of got off as well." Looking at Hiccup, she added "You didn't stop him from flying when his leg could barely support him last time he was here.

Hiccup glared at Astrid, remembering when Matt woke up after his leg was slashed. "That's because he had a brace. That helped him out stand on his own!"

"So make me something for my back!" Matt yelled, leaning against Wasatch with his shoulder "If I bend it, then it kills me! If I can't bend it then it's totally fine!"

"Uh...how about listening to the one that's been helping Matt recover?" Heather jumped in, obviously still angry with Astrid. Turning to Matt, she said "Listen Matt, why don't you go to the Great Hall? We'll talk to each other about whether or not you should fly."

"And not be able to defend myself about being able to fly? No thanks" Matt huffed, cringing in pain "I'll stay right here."

"Matt, I'll fight for your case." Astrid said, gently pulling Matt from Wasatch "You better go rest that back. Don't worry, I'll make sure you'll start flying soon enough."

Staring at Astrid, Matt only nodded. Walking towards the Great Hall, he called Wasatch to follow him; to which the dragon made sure that his trainer wasn't going to fall.

Watching Matt as he walked away, Astrid turned to Heather and said "You should have let us help him get off. That probably did more damage to his recovery than the flying."

"He wouldn't have been in that position in the first place if you hadn't helped him earlier!" Heather replied angrily.

"It was only going to be a matter of time." Astrid answered "The reason I helped him was because I caught him trying to saddle Wasatch last night. Apparently that was his third attempt!"

Hiccup groaned hearing this "So regardless of what we do, he's going to fly whenever he can."

Nodding, Astrid then argued "Also, if you can make him a brace for his back; he'd not only be able to fly, but be able to start doing normal things. Like maybe lay down! Or even start learning how to fight with a sword!"

"But his back will heal a lot more slowly! If at all!" Heather threw in "Even if he doesn't move his back while flying, he's still going to use the muscles in the back!"

"But if we wait for him to heal, he won't have the practice that he needs to help us fight the Berserkers!" Astrid retorted "They might be here tomorrow!" Looking at Hiccup, she said "We have to help him be able to defend himself when we're attacked. The Berserkers aren't going to care if he's injured or not."

Hiccup stared at the ground, unsure of what to do. Looking up the Great Hall, he saw Matt and Wasatch walk inside. Matt was still huddled over in pain.

Sighing, Hiccup said "Well…regardless if we take his saddle away, he's going to be riding Wasatch." Turning to Heather, he added "He doesn't have to stand on a dragon to ride it. He can sit too."

Heather looked at Hiccup. It was obvious he didn't want Matt flying either; but regardless of what Hiccup said, Matt was going to do what he wanted to do. Sighing, she said "I'll start preparing more of the burn ointment." Heather said softly "We might have to increase the amount of times we apply it during the day if he's going to be actively flying."

"I'll start brainstorming something for his back." Hiccup said, nodding at Heather. Looking at Astrid, who was smiling at the change of attitude, Hiccup added "You go tell Matt what we've decided. Tell him to take it easy until I can get him his brace."

"Gladly!" Astrid responded, smiling widely. Turning around to run up the stairs, she heard Hiccup yell at her.

"We're still going to have a talk about you helping him!" he shouted.

Laughing, Astrid kept on running up the stairs. "I'm sure we will Hiccup!"

Upon arriving in the Great Hall, Astrid saw Matt sitting on a bench, hunched over and his head buried in his hands. Her smile disappeared when she heard him crying. Walking up slowly to him, she saw Wasatch staring at Matt; trying to see what was wrong.

"Matt?" Astrid whispered, reaching out to touch his shoulder "What's going on? Is it your back?"

"I can't fly." Matt whispered hoarsely "I just…I just can't anymore. I give up"

Astrid was taken back at this. Kneeling down beside him she said "What's making you say that? You just got on and flew Wasatch!"

"I did?" Matt replied quietly "I thought I just glided and went in a few lazy circles."

"Matt! You're still recovering from being hit by a lightning bolt!" Astrid said, grabbing his hands. "For one week of recovering, that's amazing!" Holding his hands for a second, she then asked "What's really bugging you? You've never once complained about your leg. That never stopped you from doing what you wanted to do! So why is your back stopping you now?"

Looking down, Matt took a few deep breaths. Then, staring at Astrid in the eye, he said "Because no one believes in me."

Confused, Astrid asked "What do you mean?"

Looking back at the ground, Matt continued "No one believes that I can do what I say I can do. Hiccup first when I wanted to look for Wasatch. And then at the cave when I said I could get the Skrill. Those are only a few times. Heather also didn't like the plan I came up with to get you guys free. I knew I could snowboard with the avalanche, but she never really supported me in that." Looking back at Astrid, he said "You're the first and only one that believes that I can fly with Wasatch. You helped me do it. Hiccup and Heather don't understand what I really need."

"And what's that?" Astrid asked quietly.

"I need help." Matt whispered "I don't need my back to be a hundred percent better. What I need are friends to tell me that I can fly. That I can push through the pain." Looking at Wasatch, he added "The pain finally beat me today. That's why I can't fly." Looking back at Astrid, he said "Thank you…you know, for being there when I needed you the most. I don't even have the words to express how I felt when you helped me with the saddle…"

"Matt…" Astrid whispered "Hiccup's building you a brace! Heather's increasing the times to put that stuff on your back so that you can fly!" Astrid pointed at a container sitting next to Matt "They want to help!"

"Why?" Matt asked, sitting up straight. Fighting the burning feeling running up and down his back, he continued "Because they feel bad? Because they know I'll just keep on trying to fly without them? I don't want their help Astrid. Not until they really want to support me."

"Matt…" Astrid whispered "They do!"

"Good." Matt said standing up "If they really do want to help me, I'll see it with their actions and words. Until then, I'm done. I'm not going to do anything dragon related with them." With that, Matt stood up and started to walk away.

"Matt that's so selfish!" Astrid started to argue, but was quickly interrupted by Matt

"SELFISH!?" Matt roared, spinning around and ignoring the pain that was riveting through his body "I took a lightning bolt for Heather; I switched places for you and Hiccup when Dagur captured both of you and your dragons. I even came to help you save Berk the very minute you came to me!" Matt roared, and then immediately groaned due to the pain in his back. Using the pain to fuel his rage that had built up inside him, he kept on going. "So after all that, I don't think it's that much to ask for a little support in trying to get myself back on my feet."

"They just wanted to make sure you wouldn't hurt yourself anymore!" Astrid fired back "And speaking of support, do you know how much time Heather spent standing over your back and treating it? How much time has she spent making that ointment for you? And Hiccup, he stepped away from his chief duties so that he could help you find Wasatch!" Astrid was also fuming at this. Thinking of one more thing to say, she quickly threw out "What about me? I helped you saddle up Wasatch!"

"And I'm grateful for that! I needed that!" Matt replied loudly "That helped me a lot more healing wise than laying on a table for a week. Don't get me wrong, I am grateful for what Hiccup and Heather have done for me too! But my problems are bigger than that! It's…" Matt stopped after saying that. Looking up, he closed his eyes, and rested for a second. After what felt like an hour, he quietly said "I'm so tired Astrid. I'm so tired of being by myself to fight my own problems. Do you think that I really want to fly right now with my back like this? Do you?"

Astrid didn't say anything. This was the first time she saw Matt mentally break down, and she had no idea what to do.

"I don't. I don't want to fly. I don't even want to be alive." Matt whispered "I honestly wish I died when I took that lightning bolt."

"Matt, liste- Astrid said, starting to walk up to him.

Raising his hand, he stopped her. "I wish I died because my trials are getting bigger than me. I can't even do the simple things I enjoy, such as snowboarding or even jumping." He looked at the table that Heather told him to jump on. Wincing at his back in pain, Matt continued "When Alvin cut my leg; I had you, Hiccup, Stoick, and everyone else around me saying 'You can do it Matt! You can get up and fly on Wasatch!' Do you know what that meant to me?" Matt asked staring at Astrid's eyes "It meant that even if I fell off flying Wasatch, I could pick myself up, get on, and keep going. With you guys, I could beat the voices in my head telling me my life was ruined! They told me that I can't do anything anymore! If I listened to those voices Astrid, I don't know where I'd be."

Astrid just looked at Matt, sadness over her face as she thought of what Matt was really going through.

"Now, I'm not only having the voices in my head tell me that I can't; I'm having my best friend tell me that I can't. I have someone that I really care about tell me that I can't." With that, tears started to swell in his eyes "Astrid…I don't need more ointment, I need more people like you. People telling me that I can and will help me so that I can do it."

With that, Matt turned around and walked towards the door of the Great Hall, with Wasatch tailing behind him closely. Turning one more time to Astrid, he said "That's why the pain won today. I don't care anymore." He then walked out of the doors saying out loud "I give up."

Following Matt out, Astrid stopped at the top of the stairs to see Matt tenderly walk down the massive steps.

"Is he going to be ok?" A voice asked from behind.

Turning around, Astrid saw Heather standing next to the doorway, hidden from plain view. Holding herself as if to protect herself from the cold, she added "I heard most of the argument…does he really wish he died?"

Sighing, Astrid faced up to Heather saying "I think he's going to need a different kind of healing." Turning to see Matt and Wasatch disappear behind a building, Astrid added "His body is healing fine, it's his spirit that needs help now."

Sobbing, Heather ran to Astrid and hugged her. Through her tears, she asked "This is my fault. I should have let him go ride…"

Forcing a weak smile, Astrid looked at Heather and said "You know…there is something you can do to help him."

Looking at Astrid through her tears, Heather asked "What can I do?"

Smiling a little wider, Astrid said "You can tell him to go ride."

* * *

Astrid walked into the blacksmith shop, finding Gobber pounding away at a sheet of hot metal. Walking up to him, Astrid asked "Hey Gobber, have you seen Hiccup?"

Turning to face Astrid, Gobber smiled and said "Ah good to see you lass! I think he's in the back. He's designing something for Matt I think."

"Thanks Gobber." Astrid said, walking past him. Pulling curtains aside, she saw Hiccup threading some leather together.

"Astrid!" Hiccup said with a smile "How'd Matt take the news?"

"We need to talk Hiccup." Astrid said with a straight face "Now."

Hiccup nodded saying "Eh…hold on, almost got one of his-"

Astrid grabbed Hiccup by his armor, picked him up, and shoved him into the wall; causing all the tools and drawings that were hung up to fall off.

"OW!" Hiccup yelled "Astrid what in Thor's name is wrong with you!?"

"We need to talk about Matt RIGHT NOW!" Astrid yelled back, getting in his face.

"Fine! Just put me down!" Hiccup said, trying to get off the wall.

Letting him drop, Astrid asked "Got your attention?"

"Yeah, you had it a little bit ago." Hiccup replied sarcastically, dusting himself off. Looking at Astrid, he said "Well, what is it?"

Taking a deep breath, Astrid closed her eyes for a second. This was going to hurt Hiccup.

"Astrid? What was so important that made you pin me against a wall?" Hiccup asked, looking at her strangely.

Opening her eyes, she said "Hiccup, the Matt we know is dying."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Freedom and Forgiveness**

"He really thinks that?" Hiccup said quietly, staring into nothing.

Softly nodding her head, Astrid added "And when he told me why he thinks he's alone, I could see what he meant." Grabbing Hiccup's hands, she continued "He's been alone with every trial that he came across since getting here. He had no support whenever it counted on him."

"Except you…" Hiccup whispered.

"I helped with the saddle, yes. But as far as supporting him? I don't think I did anything either." Astrid replied, also looking at the ground.

"No…you supported him way before then." Hiccup said, looking up at Astrid. "When he came up with the plan to take you prisoner. You agreed with him."

Astrid thought for a second. Though she didn't want to admit it, Hiccup was right. She was the only one that had supported Matt. Then a thought came into her head. "What about the time that you agreed with him to let him snowboard down the mountain?"

"The plan changed." Hiccup replied "The avalanche wasn't my idea, and to be honest, I don't think I'd let him do that either."

Astrid just stared at Hiccup, trying to think of something that would comfort him. The two sat with each other for a few minutes, not sure of what to say or do next. Finally Astrid asked "So what are you going to do?"

Looking at Astrid, Hiccup shrugged. "I…I don't know…"

"Hiccup…" Astrid said softly "I don't know what you're going to do to fix it, but it has to be soon. He's not the same as he was when he came here. Even though his body may be recovering, the Matt we know is dying faster inside."

Nodding, Hiccup stood up. Looking at his project that was laying on the floor, he said "Astrid…I need to be alone for a few hours. I need to make some new adjustments for Matt's brace."

"Hiccup! Now's not the time to-" Astrid started to say loudly.

Cutting her off, Hiccup replied "I'm going to make it right with Matt, but I need to get something done first." Looking at her in the eye, he added "I need you to trust me on this."

Sighing, Astrid looked up into Hiccup's eyes "Fine. I'll let you do what you think's best. Just be quick about it."

Nodding, Hiccup leaned down and kissed her. "Thank you for telling me about Matt."

With a small smile, Astrid turned to leave. Walking out of the blacksmith shop, she could hear Hiccup start up the forge.

As she kept on walking, she saw Heather, walking quickly to something. Curiously, Astrid followed.

Walking behind the building, she saw that Heather was at a crate and started to pull something out of it.

Stepping closer to her, Astrid saw that Heather was grabbing Matt's snowboard. Around her wrist were his goggles as well. "Interesting. Why were they hiding here?" She asked out loud.

Heather gasped and turned to see Astrid. Looking down, she replied "Didn't know I was being followed."

Smiling, Astrid said "I just noticed you. You looked like you were on a mission." Gesturing to the snowboard and goggles, she again asked "So…what were these things in here for?"

"So Matt couldn't use them…" Heather whispered softly, staring at the snow.

Astrid looked at Heather, unsure of what to say to comfort her. Reaching her hand out, Astrid grabbed Heather's arm. Gripping it, she finally whispered "I think he'd like them back."

Nodding, Heather then said "I know he would…I just wanted to help him heal faster. I had no idea that he felt alo-"

"Hey." Astrid interrupted. Looking at Heather in the eyes "We all somehow didn't see how he felt. It's not just your fault, it's all our fault."

"I have no idea what to say to him." Heather said looking back down. "I don't…I just don't…"

Astrid looked at her with a small smile. Pulling Heather's chin up so that they were looking into each other's eyes, Astrid asked "You don't what?"

"I don't know if he'll believe me." Heather stated. Pulling away from Astrid she said "I don't know if he'll believe what I'll say."

"Do you care about him?" Astrid asked.

"Of course!" Heather quickly said, looking at Astrid with wide eyes "He saved my life!"

"Do you want him to fly?"

"Astrid! I just want him to be happy!" Heather said with a little bit of frustration in her voice.

"Then let him know. Tell him that." Astrid said simply "He'll pick up what you mean and the rest will take care of itself."

Smiling slightly, Heather whispered "Thank you Astrid…seems like you're the person everyone leans on…"

"Only if that was the truth!" Astrid said with a small laugh. Looking around, Astrid asked "So…where is he? Where did he go?"

Shaking her head, Heather replied "I was about to ask you the same thing!"

Panicked a little, Astrid called Stormfly. Within seconds, her beautiful Nadder was at her side. Climbing on her, Astrid helped Heather up while she held Matt's snowboard and goggles. "Up Stormfly!" She shouted, holding onto her saddle. Feeling herself lifted into the air, she shouted "We'll check the cliffs! I last saw him headed that way!"

"You think that he…" Heather paused for second "…killed himself?"

Turning around quickly, Astrid promptly said "No! I really doubt that because I'm sure Wasatch would have stopped him." Facing forward, she continued "He's probably somewhere thinking."

"I hope so…" Heather said quietly "If he left without even saying goodbye, I don't know what I'd do…"

Astrid's head perked up at this. Turning to Heather, she asked "What did you just say?"

Taken back by the demand, Heather repeated "I don't know what I'd do If he left without saying goodbye?"

"I know where he is!" Astrid yelled, getting lower on the saddle. Guiding Stormfly to the main mountain of the island, she quickly made up the distance. "I hope we're not too late." She muttered quietly to herself.

Arriving where she wanted to go, Astrid saw the cave that led to Matt's world. Landing Stormfly on the small ledge, Astrid was relieved to see Matt staring at them. But to her horror, the cave was opened up again.

"How'd you know I was up here?" Matt asked in confusion, looking at both Astrid and Heather who were dismounting from Stormfly. Wasatch was laying down behind Matt, looking at the new guests curiously.

"Why were you going to leave!?" Astrid asked angrily, ignoring Matt's question.

"Because I'm not needed anymore." Matt replied, shrugging his shoulders "The only thing keeping me here was Wasatch." Looking down at his dragon, Matt kept on saying "I wanted to spend a few more minutes with him."

"You weren't even going to say good-bye?" Heather asked quietly, staring at Matt.

Not looking back at her, he said "Good-byes are too tough. Even for the toughest. Which I'm not the toughest, but they're still hard." Finally looking up at her with tears in his eyes, he added "I'm not a huge fan of them…" Noticing Heather holding his snowboard and goggles, he smiled saying "You can keep those things. They'd do you better than me anyways."

"Since when?" Heather asked, taking a step towards Matt.

"Since my back got fried and I can't even jump on a small table." Matt said with another shrug. "I'm done. I can't even think of something I can do." Then, glaring at Heather added "If you're thinking you can convince me to stay, don't bother."

"But we need you!" Heather shouted, looking at Matt angrily.

"No you don't…" Matt replied "Here's my reasons: First reason is that you already have the man power needed to take down Dagur's fleet. You're expecting him now. Second reason, you already have a game plan to fight Death Killer. And third," Matt paused for a second "I'll only get in your way. I can't fly, ride, fight, board, anything! My purpose here is now meaningless!"

Astrid was about to say something, but Heather then walked up to Matt. Standing right in front of Matt, tears forming up in her eyes, she said "You mean something to me…" With that she handed him his board and goggles. Seeing him take them, she continued "Go. Get out of here."

Both Astrid and Matt were taken back by the comment. Matt just stared at here, not sure if she was serious or not.

"If that's what you really want, then do it." Heather added, taking a step back "I'm behind you with whatever you choose."

Matt just stared back at Heather, not sure of what to say.

"I know words won't really convince you…" Heather said softly, looking down at the ground. "If this is what you wanted, then I'm here to give it to you. Matt, I support you in whatever you choose to do." At this point tears were running down her face.

Tears also began build in Matt's eyes. Dropping the snowboard and goggles, Matt walked up and grabbed Heather. Looking into her eyes, he leaned forward. Heather also leaned forward, and with that they kissed. Holding each other for a few seconds, Matt pulled back and said out loud "Damn, you make it hard to stay angry. I almost don't want to go!"

"Matt, I'm so sorry…" Heather said quietly "I was so caught up with your back that I didn't even see what you really needed. I'm so sorr-"

Matt quickly cut her off "Heather! Don't ever apologize for worrying about my back. Because of you, I'm able to stand up! I can't ever thank you enough for helping me! I'm so sorry for making you feel that I didn't appreciate it what you've done for me…"

Smiling through her tears, Heather just shook her head. "You taught me more about healing than I learned the last two years. Thank you."

Grabbing her in a hug, Matt laughed "We'll call it even then."

Crying and laughing, Heather squeezed Matt. "Deal." She said, choking on her tears.

"So…can I go fly?" Matt jested, looking down at Heather.

"You really are a handful!" Heather said laughing "Only after we finish putting on the burn ointment again." Looking down, she added "You're pretty quick to forgive…"

"I think of it as a blessing." Matt said, moving her black hair out of her eyes "I don't usually hold a grudge…"

Astrid just stood at the entrance, smiling as she leaned against Stormfly with her arms folded. Seeing the two hug and kiss made her realize that she and Hiccup hadn't done anything with each other in a long while. Thinking about this, she never saw Matt walk up to her until he extended his hand out to her.

"Thank you Astrid." Matt whispered, his eyes still red from crying.

Instead of taking the extended hand, Astrid punched him in the shoulder. "That's for trying to leave!"

"Ah! Errgghh…" Matt groaned "That hurt a lot more than usual actually." Resting his hand on his back, he asked "Since when does a shoulder punch hurt the back like that?"

"Oh trust me, I can make any part of your body hurt just hitting your shoulder." Astrid said with a grin "Don't think that I can't!"

"Not thinking about it!" Matt said, clenching his teeth. After letting the pain slowly dissipate, Matt asked "So…where's Hiccup?"

Astrid looked down a little bit, saying "He's getting you something; er…making you something. He said that it would be important, but…"

"I'll wait…" Matt said quietly "I'm assuming you told him how I felt as well."

"I did" Astrid replied. Gesturing to Heather who was standing next to Matt, she then told him "Heather overheard our conversation. That's how she knew."

Nodding, Matt wrapped Heather with one arm and pulled her in close. "I should have known you were going to be close by."

"And never forget that." Heather said with a smile "I'll never be far away from you."

"Good…Good…" Matt said with a smile. Turning back to Astrid, he asked "Can you tell Hiccup that I'm going to stay here?"

Giving Matt a look, she asked "Depends, are you going to leave?"

Laughing, Matt squeezed Heather who was still wrapped in his arm. "Not if she can help it."

Smiling, Astrid said "I'll tell him. He'll probably be another hour or two from what he told me, but I'll drag him up here."

"Thank you…" Matt said "Tell him that I'm a lot more reasonable now. Heather calmed the beast before he got here."

Smiling, Astrid jumped on Stormfly and took off, flying towards Berk.

Looking at Matt, Heather asked "So…now that we got time, want me to rub that ointment in your burn?" She then pulled out a small container that was strapped to her belt.

"I'd like that…"Matt said with a smile "You're really good at back rubs anyways."

Hitting him in the stomach, Heather laughed as he winced in pain.

"Ok, maybe that was too soon." Matt gasped, trying to control the pain.

"Oh shut up and take your shirt off." Heather laughed "It's going to take longer since we don't have a table."

"That's a bad thing?" Matt smirked, only to be hit in the stomach again.

* * *

Hiccup and Astrid were flying towards the cave. Astrid glanced over at Hiccup who was holding a small crate under his arm.

"Still not going to tell me what it is?" Astrid asked out loud, staring at the crate.

"Nope." Hiccup said simply, still staring at what was ahead of him. Wearing his full face helmet, Hiccup just focused on the cave.

"Not even a hint?" Astrid teased, knowing the answer.

Finally turning to Astrid, Hiccup shouted "No matter how much you beg, plead, or beat me; you're not knowing what's in here without Matt opening it first."

"I can try to beat it out of you." Astrid said grinning menacingly "That'll be fun to try!"

"Why do I keep giving you ideas?" Hiccup replied, shaking his head and looking down.

"Well…I won't have to, we're here!" Astrid shouted, slowing down Stormfly.

Hiccup followed suit, pulling up and landing gently at the mouth of the cave. Jumping off Toothless, Hiccup saw Matt and Heather laying against Wasatch who was asleep.

"I was about to give up on you." Matt said, slowly standing up, trying not to shift his back as much.

"I told you we'd be a few hours." Astrid responded.

"I guess that's true…" Matt said, fighting the burning pain in his back.

Not saying anything, Hiccup set the crate down and walked to Matt.

Seeing Hiccup walking towards him, Matt grew somber.

Being careful not to aggravate Matt's back, Hiccup grabbed Matt and pulled him in a hug. Holding him for a few minutes, Hiccup whispered "Matt…please don't ever feel like you're alone. Especially when you're here…"

"I'm sorry Hiccup…I was just…" Matt said, choking a little bit on tears that were starting to come out "I was being a punk again."

"Matt…" Hiccup said firmly "Never feel alone again. I will always support you when you're struggling with something. Always."

Nodding, Matt wiped the tears from his eyes. "I feel like I bullied you into apologizing…"

"You shouldn't. Astrid told me what you told her. I totally understand why you felt the way you did." Hiccup reaffirmed. "Don't feel like you bullied me to do anything. You wanted to get up and help and I just pushed you down."

"We. We pushed him down." Heather said, walking next to Matt.

Nodding, Hiccup said "Please Matt…forgive me."

"Hiccup…I forgave you before you came up here." Matt said with a small smile.

Returning a smile of his own, he gestured to the crate he set down "Want to see what I built for your back?"

Smiling, Matt nodded "Let's see what you created for me now!"

Smiling, Hiccup opened up the crate and grabbed something out of it. Turning around, he revealed to Matt his taser.

"What did you do to it?" Matt asked, grabbing the taser. The taser still had the same shape, except that the handle was a little longer, with a single slit in the center of it.

"Push the button to turn it on." Hiccup said with a smile.

Curiously, Matt did so. He felt something click and a blade shot out of the handle. Instead of a taser, Matt had a short sword. Staring at the sword, Matt yelled "Holy crap! How did you do this!?"

"Took some time." Hiccup replied, smiling at his handiwork "That's why I had it most of the week." Pointing to the button, he added "If you hold the button down, the entire blade becomes electric. So it's like an extension for the taser." Pulling his sword out, Hiccup brandished the fire blade he had. "I took the inspiration from this. I thought it would be fitting. Me with fire and you with electricity."

Staring at his sword, Matt pushed the button to see sparks run up and down the blade. "Thank you Hiccup…" Matt began to say.

"Not done yet." Hiccup said, stepping away from the crate. "Girls…I'd turn around real quick." Hiccup added, looking at Astrid and Heather.

Confused at why Hiccup was saying that, Matt looked into the crate to see a whole new set of armor. Both for the legs and upper body. Pulling the pants out, Matt saw that it was designed similarly to Hiccups, except they were black, not brown leather straps. It was the same story for the upper body. Black leather instead of the brown. On his shoulder was a leather circle that had half of it painted black and the other half was purple.

"I designed it to make you match Wasatch." Hiccup said, looking at Matt observing the craftsmanship of the leather armor. "Put it on, it has a few features that I want to walk you through."

Matt slowly nodded, beginning to take of his shirt. Hiccup turned around and pushed Heather and Astrid around, making them face outside of the cave. "Give him a minute of privacy." He said smiling, making sure Heather wasn't turning her head to get a peak.

The minute of privacy turned into 10 minutes as Matt struggled to put the armor on, with his back giving him grief. After messing with it, Matt finally said "Ok, I think I'm ready."

Turning around, they all smiled at what they saw. Instead of the baggy snowboard pants and the off colored shirt that he wore as a replacement, Matt now had tight armor that clung to him as if it was part of him. His snowboard boots also seemed to go with the armor. Holding his arms out, Matt asked "Well, what do you think? Ready to fly yet?" Turning to Wasatch who was now staring at Matt, he asked "What do you think boy? Do we match?

Wasatch simply roared with approval, almost smiling at Matt.

"You look a lot hotter in that rather than your snowboard gear." Heather said, walking up to him. "I always liked a man in armor."

"Looks better than Hiccup's." Astrid said, smirking at Hiccup who glared at her.

Turning away from her, Hiccup then said "It's not quite like mine; I didn't make it a wing suit." At that, Hiccup spread his arms out to reveal the fabric that attached to his body. Astrid then hit a button on his suit which extended a dorsal fin on his back. "Thank you Astrid…" Hiccup said, obviously annoyed that she did that. Looking at Matt, he continued "No, I couldn't fit this on yours."

"Ok…" Matt said confused "I hope it's as cool as yours. Can you really fly in that thing?"

"To a degree. I can't really turn." Hiccup said with a smile "Had some pretty close calls."

"You can say that again…" Astrid threw in, rolling her eyes.

Ignoring Astrid, Hiccup walked up to Matt and pointed at a small lever on his right side. "Push that lever down."

Doing as instructed, Matt heard a small click and heard some metal slide in his armor. Looking down to see what it did, he realized his back was completely locked up. "What the…" Matt began to say "What happened!? I can't move my back around!"

"It's a built in brace." Hiccup said proudly "That'll keep you from twisting your back and aggravating the burns. The inside of your armor is padded with goose feathers. That's why it's not really bugging you."

Matt jumped up and down to test the brace. His back still burned, but the pain was significantly less and not crippling. Looking at Hiccup, Matt whispered "Hiccup…thank you…"

Raising his hand, Hiccup stopped Matt for a second time. Pointing at another lever on his left leg, he said "Last feature. Push that lever down."

Looking at the lever, Matt pushed on it. He instantly heard something click and his entire leg was stiff. Still able to move it normally, all it did was add resistance. Looking at Hiccup, he asked "What does it do?"

Laughing, Hiccup answered "It braces your leg. If it gives out, those braces will keep you up!"

Matt stared at Hiccup. Not saying anything, Matt walked up and grabbed Hiccup in a hug. Squeezing as hard as he could, Matt began to sob uncontrollably. "Hiccup…I'm so sorry that I said you never helped me."

Returning the hug, and trying to inhale oxygen, Hiccup whispered back "Matt…It's over…let it go." After a few seconds, he wheezed "Could you let me go also?"

Laughing through his tears, Matt released his hug on Hiccup. Staring at Hiccup, then Astrid and Heather; Matt whispered "Thank you for not giving up on me; even when I gave up on myself."

"Are you kidding Matt?" Astrid said with a big smile "What you went through, we're surprised it took you this long to finally break down."

Hiccup grabbed Matt's shoulders, and said "One more thing."

"Hiccup…" Matt said "You've already given me the world, what else do you have?"

Grabbing his helmet, Hiccup said "It's on Toothless' saddle. Go get it." He then placed his helmet over his head.

Walking to Toothless who was staring at him with a goofy grin, Matt laughed and rubbed the dragon's head. Looking at the saddle, Matt gasped. On it was a helmet just like Hiccup's but was painted like his symbol on his shoulder. Black on one side and purple on the other. Tenderly picking it up, Matt looked at Hiccup who was wearing his. Lifting it over his head, Matt slowly slid the helmet on. It fit comfortably. Looking at Hiccup, Matt said "I think I'm ready to fly now."

"You are." Hiccup said, his helmet hiding his face, but not his emotion.

"So…when can I try to fly again?" Matt said excitedly.

"Right now." Heather said smiling.

"You have to get out of the cave somehow." Astrid added.

Looking at Wasatch, Matt yelled "Let's get going boy! We're running out of time to fly!"


	11. Chapter 11

**A fight to remember! This chapter has a lot of action in it, and was BY FAR my favorite one to write. As per usual.  
Enjoy!**

**Chapter Eleven: With Fire and Lightning**

Matt sat on a bench in the Great Hall while Heather was applying the ointment to his back. It's been three days since Matt received his new armor from Hiccup, and since then he's been riding almost all three of those days; the exceptions being when Heather made him stop to put the burn ointment on. Astrid also did a few training sessions with him at night, teaching him how to wield a sword. Still not very good at it, Matt was at least able to do basic blocks and strikes.

"Well…your back isn't really healing as fast as it was." Heather observed as she gently rubbed the scarring back.

"I kind of assumed it wouldn't" Matt replied, still staring at the floor. "But I do feel better than before…"

"It's because you're doing something that makes you feel better. Don't tell me you don't feel any pain when you move around." Heather answered, rubbing specific spots with ointment.

"Ok, ok." Matt said with a smile "The back still bugs me, but only when I take off my armor. I can barely feel anything when it's on!"

Heather quickly replied "Are you telling that to me with a straight face?"

"Fine. When I maneuver around pretty hard it bugs me as well." Matt said, lowering his head.

Smiling, Heather lightly slapped his back with her hand, causing him to cringe. "There. All done."

"You're getting faster." Matt replied, slowly standing up from his seat. Turning to look at Heather, he whispered "Thank you. My back wouldn't be where it is without you."

Smirking, Heather then said "You know, it's going to be a bummer when you don't need this stuff anymore. I'll miss you being shirtless."

"Well in that case." Matt said with a smile "You should get in trouble more often. I'll come save you and take a fireball or lightning bolt to the back again and we'll all win!"

Laughing, Heather suggested "Or I could just give you a back rub. Seems to be an easier idea in my head."

Nodding, Matt seconded that with a smile "I'll agree to that. I'm not sure if there is anything left of my back to hit with another lightning bolt."

"You find humor in the weirdest jokes." Heather said laughing. With that, she began to clean up her healing supplies that lay on the table behind them.

Matt looked at Wasatch who was looking anxious to get going. "Hold on boy, I have to let my back dry before we do anything." With that, Matt walked up and began to scratch the dragon's massive head. Almost smiling, the Skrill moved his head up and down, treating Matt's hand as a scratching post.

Suddenly the doors blew open, making everyone in the Great Hall turn to see who it was. Seeing that it was Gobber, they heard him yelling "Berserkers have been spotted! Everyone! Get ready for another fight!" He yelled. This caused a small panic as everyone started to run out of the Great Hall.

Matt quickly ran to where his equipment lay. Starting to put on his armor, Heather ran next to him.

"Let me help you put that stuff on." She said, grabbing one of the leather pads.

"Thanks" Matt whispered, letting her slide it over his head.

Strapping it to another belt, Heather added "Matt, please be careful."

Smiling, Matt said "Who me?" Turning to see her smile at the joke, Matt saw the exact opposite reaction. She was frowning, and her face was written with worry.

Helping him strap on his shoulder plate, Heather said "I'm serious Matt…Please don't do something that will get you in over your head."

Nodding, Matt made some final adjustments to his armor and forearm guards. Grabbing his helmet off the table, Matt walked up to Heather and kissed her. "I promise…as long as you do the same."

"I'll be running around helping the wounded." Heather replied "I'll be fine."

"You better, I won't be around to save you if you do get into trouble." Matt said, turning to walk out the door. Having Wasatch follow him, Matt walked outside to see the entire village running around. Everyone seemed to have a job and was getting it done. He saw multiple catapults being erected, as well as small barricades being put up.

"Well…I guess you better get going then." Heather stated, standing next to Matt.

Nodding, Matt replied "I wish I could be here when everything is normal. I can't even imagine what that's like."

"Nothing is normal here." Heather said laughing lightly "At least that's what Hiccup and Astrid tell me."

Smiling, Matt looked at Heather and leaned in for another kiss.

Putting a finger on his lips, she said "I'll give you another one if you come back in one piece ok?"

Acting like he was thinking about it, Matt said "Nah." Grabbing her, he pulled her in and kissed her.

Taken back by action, Heather then closed her eyes and wrapped her arms around him. Holding each other for a while, Heather finally pulled away. "Now get going! I'm sure Hiccup has a plan for you and the other riders."

Smiling, Matt slid his helmet over his head and then pushed the two levers that activated his back and leg braces. Making sure they were stiff, Matt climbed onto Wasatch. Not having to worry about moving his back, Matt quickly strapped himself in his bindings. Looking at Heather, he saluted her good-bye and then urged Wasatch to take off. Feeling the air rush past him, Matt felt the back brace working its magic. If he hadn't had it, he would have been in a world of pain.

Carving left and right, Matt was thankful that he had a few days to practice flying before the Berserker invasion started. Seeing Hiccup and the other dragon riders all gathered at the village square, he guided Wasatch in; to which he landed softly next to Valka. Kneeling down to help him keep his balance, Matt pulled off his helmet.

"We were wondering where you were!" Hiccup said, looking at Matt. "We were about were about to send out a search party for you."

"Hey it takes me a little longer to get ready." Matt said, not telling exactly why he was late.

Hiccup smiled and then turned to the rest of the riders. "The Berserkers are coming back. But this time we know they're coming. They won't get the jump on us like last time." Pausing he said "They do have a Skrill on their side, but we do to. We also have the best trained riders in all the world. Dagur won't be able to keep up with us. We can fly faster, climb higher, and fight better than he can."

A small cheer rang from the group. Turning to everyone, Hiccup continued "Everyone, this is the plan. When the Berserkers come in catapult range, you guys start your attack. Burn their ships, take out the sails or masts; I don't care."

"Two questions" Snotlout asked, interrupting Hiccup "Why are we waiting for them to get closer? And what are you going to be doing?"

Matt seconded the question by asking "Yeah, why don't we go attack their fleet now?"

"I don't want you to be shot down in the ocean." Hiccup stated. "If you're shot down here, then we have a chance to get you back in the air or at least to safety. Besides, our catapults can help us destroy their ships."

"Doesn't answer the question of what you're going to be doing." Astrid threw in, standing next to Stormfly.

Sighing, Hiccup looked down and answered "I'm challenging Dagur."

"Not without me you're not!" Matt shouted "That Skrill will chew you up!"

"When Toothless and I were fighting Death Killer, we were on the ground. In the air, it will be a completely different story." Hiccup argued "Besides, I've taken on a wild Skrill before and we both walked away from that." He finished with petting Toothless.

"I'm still helping you." Matt said, staring at Hiccup as if to challenge him.

"Matt…" Hiccup began to say "I need you to help the beach front because your Skrill can hit multiple targets at once. We're going to need that to help the actual battle." Walking up to Matt, he finished saying "The battle isn't between me and Dagur, it's what happens here. I'm distracting Dagur from helping his forces."

Matt leaned against his back leg. Thinking about what Hiccup was saying, he finally said "I understand. I'll help out here and then I'll come help you."

Shrugging, Hiccup said "Make sure everyone can do without you before you leave." With that, he turned to Valka and said "Mom, I want you to hold all the other dragons back. Use them when the beach is being overrun."

Smiling, Valka replied "Sounds like a plan." Putting her helmet on, she yelled "Cloud Jumper! Up!" With that, the four winged dragon took off and headed to the dragon hanger.

"The rest of you, follow Astrid's lead!" Hiccup yelled, getting on Toothless "She'll be in charge."

"Wait. Not me?" Snotlout asked in confusion "Why not me?"

"Snotlout, now's not the time." Eret said, shaking his head.

Hiccup walked Toothless over to Matt as everyone began to take off and fly. Still staring at him, Matt just shook his head. "Matt…please, make sure that everything is taken care of here before you come help me. Assuming I still need help." Hiccup said.

Astrid then answered, walking Stormfly up to Hiccup "Don't worry, I'll let him know when we don't need him.

"I promise Hiccup." Matt said "I'm still not agreeing with the plan, but I'll do my part."

"Thank you." Hiccup said, sliding his helmet on.

With that, a call was shouted "Ships Ahoy! It's the Berserkers!"

"Well timed." Astrid said out loud, looking out to see the white sails with the Skrill emblem on them.

"Everyone in position!" Hiccup yelled, taking off on Toothless.

Putting his helmet back on, Matt urged Wasatch to follow.

Flying alongside Hiccup, Matt saw just how many ships there were. Moaning, he said out loud "I don't remember seeing that many ships before."

"They probably got the rest of their fleet." Astrid replied, flying to left of him. "I'm sure this is the last of their armada."

"I hope so…" Matt said frowning, his helmet hiding his face.

Suddenly a lightning bolt was fired from the lead ship. Barely missing Astrid, she quickly pulled Stormfly to go higher. Staring at Astrid, both Hiccup and Matt looked to see Death Killer flying towards them.

"Here he comes!" Hiccup shouted, stopping Toothless and letting him hover. Matt followed suit, hovering next to Hiccup.

Astrid finished her climb and began to order the other riders around.

"Well Hiccup!" Dagur's voice sounded "How are you doing?"

Not saying anything, Hiccup stared at the approaching Dagur.

"Oh…not really in the mood to talk huh?" Dagur said with an evil smile. Letting Death Killer hover in front of Hiccup and Matt, he said "Matt! I'm shocked that you're even standing, let alone flying!" Laughing, he added "Get it? Shocked!"

"Turn around now Dagur!" Hiccup ordered "We'll beat you and your army this time."

"Well that's where you wrong Hiccup." Dagur replied softly "You won't beat me. Death Killer kind of seals the deal with that."

"Then let's fight." Hiccup said, his helmet covering his emotion "I'll take you down!"

"After you!" Dagur said grinning. Letting Death Killer fire a lightning bolt at Toothless, who easily dodged it, Dagur charged Hiccup.

Toothless then dove, gaining speed quickly. Dagur immediately gave pursuit, ignoring Matt who was just watching Hiccup.

"Matt!" Astrid's voice shouted above him. "The ships are launching the catapults! Get your head in the game!"

Looking down, Matt saw the rocks flying towards Berk; who were throwing rocks back at them.

Yelling to Wasatch, he said "Time to see how they like getting hit with lightning!" With that Matt stood up straight in his bindings and fell backwards. Wasatch rolled with Matt, causing them both to fall straight down on top of the ships. Letting Wasatch fall a good few hundred feet; Matt lifted his front foot, telling Wasatch to pull up. Pulling up above the first ship, Wasatch fired a lightning bolt out of his mouth, hitting the ship dead center. Fire started to consume the ship, causing the Berserker's to jump off.

Letting Wasatch fire another lightning bolt into another ship, Matt saw the twins spray down a layer of gas to which Stormfly fired at. A massive explosion erupted and Matt could feel the heat from the fire. Ships nearby were rocked by it, some of which their sails caught fire. Smiling under his helmet, Matt guided Wasatch around the fleet, going to hit them from behind.

Meanwhile, Astrid was busy giving orders: "Fishlegs!" she yelled "Have Meatlug eat the boulders they're throwing at us! Fire them back! I want you to stay there doing that!"

"Got it Astrid!" Fishlegs yelled, to which Meatlug caught a boulder and promptly ate it.

"Eret! You and Snotlout help defend the beaches. Focus on the small landing boats." She yelled, looking at Eret who was flying behind her.

"Don't worry! We'll take care of it!" He replied, turning Skull Crusher around.

"He means I'll take care of it." Snotlout shouted, following Eret to the beaches.

Shaking her head, she shouted "Ruff, Tuff, we're going to be taking down the bigger ships. Focus on the ones up in front!"

"Awesome! We get to blow stuff up!" Ruffnut shouted, high fiving her brother.

"It's like my birthday but better!" Tuffnut replied, letting Barf and Belch dive towards the fleet.

"Matt. I want you…to…" Astrid stared to say. Looking around, she couldn't find him anywhere. "Matt!" She yelled, thinking he left to help Hiccup.

Just as she searched for Matt, a lightning bolt fired from behind the fleet. Flying from behind, Wasatch shot at several other ships. Pulling alongside Astrid, he asked "What? Did you call me?"

Smiling, she replied loudly "Keep doing what you're doing."

Smiling, Matt let Wasatch shoot a catapult rock, blowing it up in hundreds of pieces. "I got to let him recharge! I'll be right back!" Matt yelled, guiding Wasatch towards Berk.

Letting Wasatch begin recharging, Matt saw Heather amongst crowd of Vikings, running across a bridge. In her arms was a Viking kid, crying.

Heather held the child tightly to comfort him. Glancing to her left, she saw Matt flying towards her. To her horror, she saw also a boulder smash into the supports of the bridge. With the bridge starting to collapse, Heather lost her footing; falling down a few feet from solid ground. Pushing the kid she was carrying the rest of the way, the bridge collapsed. Falling down, Heather screamed as the rocky sea was coming closer.

Matt quickly let Wasatch dive after her. Falling with her, he reached out to grab her and pull her into him; just as Wasatch pulled up. Even with the brace, Matt's back flared up with pain while he held Heather and as Wasatch regained altitude. Leveling off, Matt finally relaxed his back still burning with pain. Setting her down so that she was standing with him on the dragon, he shouted "I was joking about me saving you!"

"I guess I wasn't!" Heather replied, still a little bit in shock from what had happened.

Laughing, Matt let Wasatch glide to the ground. Letting Heather step off, he shouted "You need to get to cover!"

"I have to help the injured!" Heather shouted back, taking a few steps away.

"Help those that are in cover then, it's too dangerous for you to be running around in the open." Matt yelled back, urging Wasatch to take off.

Leaving Heather behind, Matt turned to see Astrid strafing a ship, followed by the twins. The two dragons made quick work of the ship, turning it into splinters. Smiling, Matt followed the two, letting Wasatch fire at the ships that the twins and Astrid missed.

"Good to see you again!" Astrid called out, finishing a strafing run. "Couldn't stay away from Heather?"

"It was actually her fault" Matt said laughing "She'll do anything to see me again."

Laughing, Astrid never saw a pair of bolas flying at her. Hitting Stormfly in the wing, she began to fall out of the sky; making Astrid hold onto the saddle for dear life. "I'm hit!" she shouted, to which she yelled at Stormfly "Hold on girl!" Stormfly kept on flapping her wing and tried to free it. Feeling a thud, Astrid saw that she landed on a Berserker ship. Jumping off Stormfly, she grabbed her axe off the saddle and stood in front of Stormfly; ready to defend her.

The Berserkers were surprised seeing a dragon crash on their ship. Quickly gaining their composure, they rushed at Astrid. Astrid responded by quickly bringing the axe across a Berserker's shoulder, spinning him around and dropping him. Bringing her axe handle up, she nailed another Berserker in the nose, knocking him back. Facing to her right, she felt herself get tackled by another Berserker. Pinned to the deck, Astrid tried to kick the Berserker off.

Struggling, she suddenly felt the Berserker pushed off of her. Looking, she saw Stormfly standing over her, defending the fallen Astrid. Her wing was freed and was growling at the rest of the Berserkers who were backing off. Rolling over, Astrid grabbed her axe and stood up. Standing alongside her dragon, she saw out of the corner of her eye Matt standing next to her.

Holding his new sword, he turned to look at her, saying "I freed Stormfly when you were otherwise occupied."

Smiling, Astrid felt wind rushing past her. Turning to see what caused it, she saw Wasatch hovering above them.

"Light up their world Wasatch!" Matt yelled, pointing his sword at the Berserkers. Roaring, Wasatch radiated lightning and shot smaller lightning bolts out of his wings. Striking the deck of the ship randomly, all the Berserkers jumped off the side of the ship.

"Well…I guess I have to thank you again." Astrid said smiling at Matt.

Not looking at her, Matt ran to the rudder of the ship. Pushing on it, he directed to the ship towards the middle of the fleet. "Grab me that rope!" Matt shouted pointing to a coil of rope.

Astrid, seeing what he was doing, grabbed the rope and handed it Matt; who began to tie it furiously to the rudder to hold it in place. Securing it, Matt yelled "Get off the ship before it collides with the others!" Seeing Astrid jump on Stormfly, Matt ran and jumped on Wasatch. Strapping himself in in record time, he urged Wasatch to take off. Flying away from the fleet, Matt and Astrid turned to see the single ship ram and sink three other ships.

Hovering above the battle, Matt said out loud "There's too many of them. We're sinking so many ships but they keep on coming!"

Looking around, Astrid said "We need Valka and her dragons!" Turning to Matt, she said "I need you and the twins to keep the fleet busy. I'm getting Valka!"

"Got it!" Matt shouted, guiding Wasatch into another strafing run. Striking at a ship, Matt flew to the side of the fleet. Staring at the line of ships, Matt then urged Wasatch to strafe them again. Expecting to dive towards the fleet, Matt felt the opposite. Wasatch wasn't going or moving anywhere. Instead, he just sat there and hovered over the fleet. Surprised, Matt yelled "What are you doing Wasatch? We gotta get going!"

Instead of a response, Wasatch started to radiate lightning. Seeing this, Matt yelled "Nevermind! Do what you have to bud! I'm here for the ride!" Responding, Wasatch roared; radiating even more lightning. Seeing small bolts strike the wings of his dragon, Matt shouted "I hope whatever your doing doesn't affect me! I'm still back here remember!" From the island and ships below, Wasatch was looking like a small sun; radiating white light. Seeing the lightning covering all of Wasatch, Matt screamed "Alright Wasatch! Let 'em have whatever your doing!"

The Skrill shrieked, spreading its wings out. Almost instantly a lightning storm descended. Striking most of ships, fire started to light up the wood. The Berserkers all jumped off their ships, trying to miss the lightning and move around the fire that was spreading.

Laughing, Matt saw the lightning recess from Wasatch. Looking at his dragon, he could see that he was struggling to stay in flight. Urging him to glide to Berk, Matt jumped off of Wasatch as he landed. Seeing the Skrill collapse, Matt lifted up Wasatch's head saying "You did it buddy…You saved Berk!"

Nudging Matt's hand, Wasatch shocked Matt, acknowledging the praise.

"Uh…Matt…" Fishlegs shouted above him "Sorry to be Norman the Negative, but look!"

Looking through the smoke covered sea, Matt saw something that sank his heart. The rear end of the fleet was pushing past the wreckage, making way for the beaches. Already the landing boats were already almost on the beach.

"No…" He whispered. He just stared at the fleet that kept on coming. With Wasatch down, Matt was pretty much useless as a dragon rider, but he could still be a foot soldier. Looking at the tired Skrill, Matt whispered "Stay here boy…" Grabbing the handle of his sword, Matt started to run to the beach to join the rest of the Berk Vikings.

As he started to run on the beach, Matt heard Eret shout above him "What are you doing Matt!?"

"Helping fight!" Matt shouted back "Wasatch is exhausted! He can't even fly."

"Get back!" Eret yelled "You'll be killed!"

Ignoring him, Matt picked up a shield from a fallen Viking. Running next to the other Vikings, he extended the blade out of the handle with sparks running up and down the sword. Raising his shield, he rammed into a Berserker.

"Throw his defenses off, then strike…" Matt thought, rehearsing what Astrid taught him. Thrusting his sword out from behind the shield, he felt blade catch something. As he moved the shield out of the way, Matt saw the Berserker he hit twitch as the electricity from his blade shoot through him. Not wasting a second, Matt pulled out the blade and slashed it across the twitching Viking's chest. Looking to his left, he raised his shield just in time to block an axe. With the axe head stuck in his shield, the attacking Berserker moved the shield out of the way and punched Matt in the face. His helmet taking most of the blow, Matt still let go of the shield and fell backwards.

Laying on his back, Matt stared up into the sky with pain running up and down. Brace or no brace, landing on his back hurt him a lot. Looking through his eye holes, he could see the Berserker raising the axe up; ready to bring it down on top of him. Suddenly, Matt watched a hail of spikes fly into the Berserker. Rolling to his side, Matt looked up to Stormfly hovering behind him. Looking down from Stormfly, Matt saw Astrid running towards him. Picking up his sword off the ground, Astrid then grabbed Matt's armor and dragged him away from the battle.

"What in the name of Thor were you thinking!?" Astrid yelled, dropping Matt pretty hard on the icy beach.

"Wasatch was down, so I had to help!" Matt gasped, rolling over to his hands and knees, trying to cope with the burning sensation in his back.

"Matt, you're barely able to fight one on one, let alone on a battlefield." Astrid said angrily, grabbing Matt by the arm and then lifting him up on his feet.

Wincing in pain, Matt's head suddenly snapped up. Staring at Astrid, he asked "What about Valka!? Did you get her? Where is she?"

Shaking her head and smiling, Astrid gestured behind Matt and answered "Look!"

Turning around, Matt saw Valka hovering above the battlefield with Cloud Jumper. Behind her were hundreds of dragons, all roaring and shooting fire at the remnants of the landing boats. The wild Zipplebacks were rolling across the beach on fire, making themselves a buzz saw of fire, while Rumblehorns charged and rammed into columns of Berserkers. Almost immediately the rest of the dragons charged the fleet.

Smiling, Matt looked at Astrid and said "I think we can win now!"

"Think?" Astrid said laughing. Grabbing him, she quickly turned him around and made him face the invading fleet. "We are! We're winning!" she shouted pointing to the retreating fleet.

Sure enough, the fleet began to pull back, at least what was left of the fleet.

"I can't believe it…" Matt whispered "A minute ago, I thought I was looking at the end of Berk."

"What did you do?" Astrid asked "How did you sink half the fleet?"

Gesturing over the hill where Wasatch was laying, he said "Wasatch did it. Basically called all the lighting in the world and used it!"

"How?"

Matt shrugged "I don't know, he refused to do what I asked and ended up having a whole storm under his wings." Smiling, he continued "I think we're just barely scratching the surface with knowing what a Skrill can do…"

Suddenly, both he and Astrid were picked up by Stormfly. Staring up at the dragon, both Astrid and Matt looked down to see a massive catapult rock laying right where they were standing.

"Thanks girl…" Astrid breathing loudly "That was close."

"Right…We should still remember we're on a battlefield…" Matt said slowly, still staring at the boulder. Turning to look at Astrid, he saw something behind her that caught his attention. Starting past Astrid, he suddenly saw a lightning strike randomly in the air.

"Astrid! I need to help Hiccup!" Matt yelled, struggling to get down.

"Stormfly! Down!" Astrid yelled.

Gently dropped down, Matt took off running back to Wasatch. Astrid quickly followed him. Matt had a new panicked feeling. If he saw a lightning strike just barely, Hiccup must be having a harder time than he expected. And he was probably getting tired too!

Running up to Wasatch, Matt was surprised to see his dragon up and walking towards him. Jumping on him, Matt began to strap himself in. "You ok bud? I hate to do this to you, but we need to fly like the wind!" Matt breathed quickly. His back still had pain lingering in at this point.

"I have to clean up the rest of these Berserker's" Astrid said, looking at Matt as he finished strapping in "I'll be there to help as soon as I can."

"Don't worry, we can handle it." Matt said, looking back at Astrid.

Handing Matt his sword, Astrid added "Be careful Matt."

Nodding, Matt took his sword and yelled "Let's go boy!"

Roaring, Wasatch launched into the air. Even if Wasatch was tired, he wasn't going to show it then.

Guiding Wasatch to the lightning that was shooting pretty regularly now, Matt yelled out loud "Hold on Hiccup! We're coming!"

* * *

Hiccup rolled Toothless around another lightning strike. Even though Toothless was flying circles around Death Killer, the Skrill was deflecting every shot that the Night Fury threw at it. The electricity almost created a shield around the Skrill. This wasn't the first time that Hiccup and Toothless came across this problem. When they fought the wild Skrill a few years ago, it was almost an impossible enemy to attack. Banking hard left, Hiccup maneuvered Toothless back behind Dagur and Death Killer. Taking aim, Toothless fired another plasma blast at Death Killer. Flipping around, Death Killer shot a lightning bolt at the plasma blast, causing a massive blue electric explosion to occur.

"Sorry Hiccup, you're going to have to do better than that!" Dagur called out "Death Killer, enough playing with them, just kill them!"

Death Killer responded by shooting a lightning bolt at Toothless, barely dodging it by rolling to the right. The Skrill instantly shot a second bolt, then a third! Rolling like mad, Toothless dodged the bolts, each getting closer to their target.

Hiccup put Toothless into a dive, going straight for the blue ocean below him. Out flying the Skrill, Hiccup pulled up just in time to feel the mist of the ocean that lay only three feet under him. Looking behind him, Hiccup saw Dagur not that far from him.

"He can't maneuver like us…" Hiccup said quietly, watching Dagur pull up a lot sooner than they did. "OK bud, let's teach that Skrill how to turn like a Night Fury!"

Rolling to the right, Hiccup intentionally slowed down to let Dagur catch up. Seeing Dagur a lot closer to them, he then began to weave between the giant rock pillars. Seeing that the Skrill wasn't firing anymore, Hiccup smiled as he continued to weave between the rocks. Leading Dagur by barely making him visible, Hiccup circled a pillar, ending up behind Dagur. Firing a plasma blast, Death Killer only had time to dodge it, not fire an electric bolt. Flying away from the enraged dragon and rider, Hiccup and Toothless kept on weaving between the massive pillars that stood out of the ocean.

Dagur, now was having Death Killer fire lightning bolts whenever he saw Hiccup, exploding rock and removing any obstacle that was in their way. Coming on a small straightaway, Hiccup saw the rock pillar to his right get struck by a lightning bolt. Exploding, the debris caused mad Hiccup deviate from his path. Rolling away from the explosion, Toothless barely missed a pillar that was on his left. Gritting his teeth, Hiccup yelled "That's it! Let's finish this Toothless!" Leading Dagur on another wild chase in between the monoliths, he lost Dagur in a second. After a minute of weaving, Hiccup maneuvered Toothless to do a small flip and roll, heading back where he came from.

"Get ready bud. We'll take them by surprise!" Hiccup shouted "They won't expect a head on attack!"

Bracing himself, Hiccup flew around the pillar. To his shock, Dagur was gone! Looking around in a panic, Hiccup began to fly in between the pillars searching for Dagur. "Ok bud…keep an eye out up front, I'll watch our backside." Hiccup said quietly to Toothless.

After a few minutes of flying in between the pillars, Hiccup said out loud "Did we scare him off? Or did he just…" A thought came to him that caused him to panic. "Come on bud! He's probably heading over to his fleet to help them!"

Urging Toothless to fly above the pillars, Hiccup made a straight line from where he was to where the battle was raging. Barely getting over the cliffs and flying over a snowy plain, Hiccup heard something that made his blood run cold.

"Get them Death Killer!" Dagur's voice yelled.

Not even able to turn around to see where they were, Hiccup saw a flash of white lightning hitting Toothless. Feeling the Night Fury fall out of the sky, Hiccup held onto his friend as he crashed into the snowy ground.

Being thrown off Toothless, Hiccup rolled a few yards from where Toothless landed. Getting his sense of direction back, Hiccup slowly sat up from where he was laying. Covered in snow and his helmet thrown off, Hiccup looked from where he lay, seeing Toothless lying motionless in the snow. "Oh no...Oh no, no, no!" Hiccup yelled, crawling to his friend. Getting near Toothless, Hiccup saw that the dragon was still breathing. "Oh Toothless…" Hiccup said, feeling a hole in heart seeing his friend like this.

"Game over Hiccup!" Dagur's voice shouted behind him.

Anger flaring up in his body, Hiccup turned to look at Dagur who was hovering on Death Killer above him. Staring at the lunatic, Hiccup yelled out of fury, hatred, and even as a last resort "Dagur, you'll never win!"

Laughing, Dagur yelled back "Oh really? Your Night Fury is down, my fleet is pounding your village, I armed my men to specifically take down your dragons, I have to say I can't really see how I can lose!"

Staring helplessly at Dagur, Hiccup dropped his head. He was beat, and now Berk was going to fall…under his reign as chief.

"Death Killer, would you so kindly finish their pathetic lives?" Dagur said quietly, smiling crazily at Hiccup.

Staring at the Skrill as it charged up with lightning; Hiccup threw himself on Toothless, as if to protect him.

Eyes squeezed shut, he heard Dagur's laughter suddenly turn into angry shouts and curses.

Slowly looking up, Hiccup saw something flooded his body with relief. Matt and Wasatch hovering above him.

"That's it Dagur!" Matt screamed, throwing his helmet off "I'm going to kill you right NOW!"

"I bet you'll do as we-" Dagur was cut off as Wasatch slammed himself into Death Killer, knocking Dagur into the snow.

Unbuckling his snowboard bindings, Matt leapt off Wasatch as he pinned Death Killer to the ground.

Landing hard, Matt collapsed in the snow. The pain in his back was excruciating. Fighting through it with the knowledge that Hiccup was almost killed, and the anger that was built up inside him; Matt stood back up, grabbing his handle and extending the blade out and letting it rain sparks from it. Hiccup ran next to him, pulling out his fire sword as well.

"Well…this took a turn of events." Dagur said with anger in his voice. Standing up in the snow, he in turn drew his sword that was strapped to his back. "I'm still going to win Hiccup."

"Tell that to the remnants of your fleet!" Matt replied, putting his sword into a defensive position.

Dagur stared at him, not really wanting to believe what he heard. Shrugging, Dagur responded with "If that is the truth, then I'll gladly take your lives as a compromise." With that he leapt at Hiccup and thrust his sword.

Backing up, Hiccup deflected the sword by hitting it with his own. Fire spread shot out randomly as the two swords made contact. Matt then jumped at Dagur with his sword thrust forward. Quickly deflecting Matt's strike, Dagur roared in pain as the electricity from Matt's sword travelled through his and into Dagur's hand.

Because the connection between swords was short, the voltage was a lot weaker than if Matt had actually hit Dagur directly. Still enough though to make Dagur rethink deflecting Matt's attacks.

"That's a dirty trick…" Dagur growled, trying to put feeling back into his hand.

"I learned it all from you." Matt replied, circling behind Dagur "You're the best at being a scumbag."

Hiccup then leapt forward, slashing his sword. Deflecting the blow, Dagur took a step back. Retracting the blade back in the handle, Hiccup then spewed gas out of his sword at Dagur. Shocked, Dagur tried to jump out, but was too late as Matt poked the gas with his sword, covered in sparks. The explosion knocked Dagur flat on his back. Rolling backwards with the inertia, Dagur stood up and rushed Matt by sticking his sword out, aiming for his heart. Unable to deflect the attack due to the lack of experience, Matt threw himself backwards to avoid the sword. Landing on his back, Matt wasn't as nimble as Dagur and just laid there for a second. Trying to control the pain that surged in his back, he quickly rolled over to his knees. Standing up he saw Dagur aggressively swing at Hiccup, who was backing away. Running at Dagur, Matt picked up a handful of snow and threw it into Dagur's face.

Blinded temporally, Dagur swung at random to try and deflect any attacks. Running towards Dagur, Matt then slid under the wild swings and slashed Dagur's leg.

Yelling in pain from being slashed and being shocked by the built in taser, Dagur dropped his sword and fell to his knee.

Rolling away from Dagur, Matt slowly stood up. Staring at Dagur kneeling in the snow, Matt couldn't believe that he pulled that off. Relaxing a little, Matt felt the pain in his back creep up again.

"This time we won Dagur…" Hiccup said, breathing heavily and pointing his sword at Dagur's chest.

"Did you though?" Dagur hissed back, staring at Hiccup's eyes. He then yelled "Death Killer! Help!"

With that, Death Killer smacked Wasatch with his tail, getting free from being pinned. Running quickly to Dagur, the Skrill knocked over both Matt and Hiccup as he ran in between them.

Rolling several feet away, Matt and Hiccup looked up in time to see Dagur pull himself up and start flying to the clouds above.

"I'll bring him down!" Matt shouted, standing up. Just as he did so, his leg flooded with pain. Collapsing in the snow, Matt stared at it with horror. "Why is it hurting now? Why is my brace not working!?" he yelled in confusion

Hiccup ran up to look at the brace. Pulling and pushing the lever up and down, Hiccup looked at Matt and said "The metal rods in the brace are snapped! Death Killer must have done it when he knocked us both over!"

Fighting the pain, Matt called Wasatch over. "I'll get Dagur back here. Give me a few minutes."

"Matt!" Hiccup yelled "Now is not the time to go chase him for vengeance sake. Your leg is killing you, as I'm sure your back is as well! We also need to go secure the island!" Turning to Toothless who still lay in the snow unconscious, whispered "We need to get Toothless some help."

"Weren't you the one who wanted to end Dagur?" Matt asked loudly, still climbing on Wasatch slowly. "Hiccup, if he escapes, then all this was for nothing! NOTHING!"

Looking at Matt, Hiccup just stared at him; unable to argue against what he said.

"I'll be right back…" Matt said softly "I promise!"

Looking at Matt in the eye, Hiccup said "Go. Just don't do anything stupid!"

Smiling, Matt nodded and then urged Wasatch to fly in the sky. Feeling the sudden launch, Matt had to focus on keeping his leg upright. The few activities he had just done with the battle at Berk, fighting on the ground with Berk's warriors, and fighting Dagur with Hiccup; had made his leg extremely tired and weak. Without the brace to help stay the pain, it was all catching up to him.

Wasatch himself was showing signs of fatigue. Slowing down quite a bit, Matt kneeled down and yelled "I'm sorry Wasatch, but I just need a little bit more out of you!" Grabbing his sword, he laid the flat side of it down on the side of Wasatch and shocked him. Roaring, Wasatch started to put a little extra energy to climbing higher, spurred by the stress of the situation.

Flying into the clouds that were beginning to darken with falling snow, Matt quickly turned his head to try and find Dagur. Wasatch was also busy looking for Death Killer. Lightning was lighting up the sky, usually what happens when a Skrill is being active. The clouds were thick to where visibility was incredibly reduced.

Suddenly a bolt of lightning was shot from behind them. Quickly turning, Wasatch absorbed the blast. Firing one of his own at the direction where they were attacked from, Wasatch roared as if to challenge Death Killer

"Don't fire back!" Matt yelled "Just focus on absorbing the lightning!"

Just as he finished saying that, another lightning bolt shot from under them. Quickly moving himself, Wasatch absorbed that one as well.

"How are you that quick!?" Matt asked surprised, trying to regain his balance. crouching down on Wasatch so that he didn't have to stand on his leg as much, Matt began to scan the sky. Snow was falling a lot heavier, adding to the difficulty of seeing anything.

Suddenly a roar sounded above them. Looking up, Matt could see Death Killer and Dagur diving on them.

"Watch out!" Matt yelled, trying to maneuver Wasatch away from the diving Skrill.

Too late to do anything, Death Killer landed on Wasatch. Biting into Wasatch's back, he started to pull him down.

Matt his balance as he fell with Wasatch. Grabbing one of the many spikes, Matt tried to control his body. Looking at Death Killer, he shouted "Get off of him!"

Not even hearing Matt, nor would he listen, Death Killer kept on biting into Wasatch's back.

Extending the blade out of his handle for a third time, Matt slashed at the Skrill. Getting a clean cut across the face of Death Killer, Matt saw blood start pouring out of a straight line that was in-between the eyes.

"Death Killer!" Dagur shouted in horror, seeing his Skrill bleed.

Letting go of Wasatch, Death Killer started to control itself from falling any farther. Shaking its head in pain, the Skrill roared in agony as it hovered in place.

Matt then focused his attention on Wasatch, shouting "Come on buddy! We just need to land! Come on Wasatch! You're done after this!"

Wasatch slowly extended his wings, catching himself and letting him glide towards the island. Matt turned to look at the Skrill's back. He could see multiple holes all along his Skrill's back, as was a small chunk of flesh missing near the center of his back. Blood was everywhere along the back, making Matt sick to his stomach.

Gliding slowly and pretty low over the snowy plain, Wasatch finally folded over. Crashing from a good 10 feet above the ground, Wasatch slid on the ground for a good 20 feet. Matt was carried the entire way as he was still strapped to his wounded dragon.

That was the last straw for Matt's pain tolerance. Pain started to flood every part of his body, but his back and leg even more so. Letting out a long agonized moan, Matt laid on his back in the snow unable to move. Finally feeling the pain lessen a little, he slowly reached for his bindings that held him to his downed friend. Matt gasped at the strain he was putting on his bad leg from just moving it a little. He started with the binding on his right foot, which came off fairly simple yet painful. Breathing for a minute, he then reached for the one on his left foot, also being his bad leg. Struggling to move the small latch that released his bindings, he looked up to see that it was completely jammed. Resting his head in the snow, Matt closed his eyes. Even if he had all day, he wouldn't be able to get out of it without someone's help. On top of that, the leg was at the point that it was riveting with a sharp pain and he couldn't move it even if he wanted to. "That's why my doctors wanted me to stay off of it…" Matt muttered to himself.

Looking helplessly at Wasatch, Matt saw the blood dripping out of the many wounds and seep into the white snow; turning it to crimson red. "Wasatch…" Matt whispered "What did I do to you? What did I make you do?" The snow was falling harder now, already starting to put a small layer on top of Matt. Laying there for a few minutes, which felt like hours, he heard someone running up to him. Twisting his head in the direction of the sound, he was relieved to see that it was Hiccup.

"Matt!" he cried, kneeling down at where Matt lay. Brushing the snow off, he asked "What happened!?"

"I'm fine Hiccup." Matt said with a forced smile, trying to mask the pain. Gesturing to Wasatch he said "It's Wasatch that I'm worried about."

"This is perfect!" A voice shouted above them "The very two that I wanted to kill are next to each other!"

Closing his eyes, Matt cussed. Opening his eyes and turning to where he heard the voice, he saw exactly what he thought. Dagur with an enraged Skrill with a red slash on its face, blood dripping from its chin..

"Death Killer would personally like to deal with you Matt." Dagur said angrily. "I did at first, but he was the one that was directly affected by you."

Before either Hiccup or Matt could answer, a streak of fire formed in between them and Dagur.

Looking up in shock, Matt and Hiccup saw all the dragon riders, hovering above them.

Without saying anything, Dagur turned Death Killer and flew into the storm; disappearing from their view."

Not bothering to chase him, the dragon riders landed and ran to Matt and Hiccup.

"What happened!?" Astrid asked, picking up Hiccup and hugging him.

Running his fingers through her hair, Hiccup replied "Dagur's a better rider than we expected…He…He beat us pretty good."

Staring at Hiccup, Astrid asked "Where's Toothless?"

Hiccup pointed in a direction and said "Over there. He's unconscious. He took a solid hit from Death Killer."

Matt was listening on the conversation, still laying in the snow when he suddenly felt a sharp pain shoot up his leg. Looking at his leg, he saw Fishlegs and Eret trying to unjam his binding. Between the relief of being near friends, the anxiety of almost losing his dragon, and the pain in his leg and back; Matt slowly slipped into a deep, dark world.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Good-byes are too tough for the Toughest**

Matt folded the straps around the leather chest plate of his armor. Setting it reverently in a chest, he stared at the folded equipment. Alone in Hiccup's room, Matt stood there in his slightly torn Levi's and a new pair of Viking styled fur boots. His upper body was wrapped in bandages, because his burns opened back up from the fighting he did two days ago.

"Has it been that long?" he whispered to himself, looking out of the window. Two days ago was a day he never wanted to live through again. Thinking about how he almost lost his life again, Matt shook his head at the thought. Then another thought came into his head that ran chills down his spine. He almost lost Hiccup, Toothless, Heather, Astrid, and his best friend Wasatch; not to mention the rest of the riders whose lives were in danger.

Shaking his head from the thought, Matt grabbed his helmet that was lying next to the chest. Staring at the black and purple helmet, he could see hundreds of scratches and dings in it. Sighing, he then placed it in the chest with the rest of his armor. Closing the lid, Matt then threw on a fur coat that Hiccup gave him. With his wounds opened up, a shirt was almost impossible to put on. Grabbing the chest with both hands, Matt limped out of the room. Walking down the stairs, he saw both Hiccup and Valka sitting on some chairs waiting for him to come down.

"Hey, let me help with that." Hiccup said, grabbing the chest out of Matt's hands.

"Thanks…" Matt whispered, not looking at Hiccup's face.

Standing there for a few moments in silence, Hiccup broke the awkwardness by saying "I wish you didn't have to go…"

"We both know I have to." Matt replied, finally looking at his friend. "I've been gone for 10 days. During which the ski season started and no one can rent or buy any boards. I'm sure I already have the FBI looking for me now…"

"FBI?" Hiccup asked in confusion.

Laughing quietly, Matt grabbed Hiccup's shoulder and spun him around. Walking with him towards the door he answered simply "People who look for other people."

"Wait a second Matt" Valka's voice called behind them.

Stopping, Matt turned to see Valka walking up to him. "Thank you for all you've done to help Hiccup." She said quietly. Rubbing her hand down Matt's cheek, she added "It's good to know that our descendants are as brave and strong as we are. Perhaps stronger."

Smiling weakly at Valka, Matt grabbed her in a hug. "Thank you Valka. I'm glad that I got to meet you personally."

Separating from each other, Matt turned and followed Hiccup out of the door. Eyes adjusting to the brightness, Matt saw the entire Dragon Academy sitting on Hiccup's porch, as well as all their dragons. Wasatch was also there, laying on the ground with Toothless. Though they both were hurting from the battle, they were recovering fine. Even Wasatch's partially torn out back.

Looking at the crowd, Matt fought hard to hold back the tears.

"Well…I guess this is it…" Astrid said, walking up to Matt "Thank you so much for coming."

Forcing a laugh, Matt replied "I'm so glad you came by to pick me up." Grabbing her arm, he added "Next time you come visit though, please do it when Berk isn't in trouble. Or when Hiccup isn't in mortal danger."

Laughing, Astrid lightly hit Matt's shoulder. "Guess I won't be coming to visit at all with those rules."

Smiling, Matt was approached by the twins, who both extended their hands to him. Shaking both their hands, he said "By the way. You asked how I shocked Dagur when I first came here." Pulling out his sword, he said "This is how."

"Told you it was magic." Ruffnut said, glaring at her brother.

Shaking his head, Matt saw Eret and Fishlegs follow them. "You always leave super early." Fishlegs said with a disappointed look on his face. "I have so many questions about Wasatch!"

"Well…maybe you can find them out yourself!" Matt said with a smile "I'm sure Wasatch will be staying here for a bit after I leave."

Smiling back at Matt, Fishlegs added "Thank you for coming back…"

Nodding, Matt turned to Eret. Extending his hand out, Eret said "I've only met two people that showed more courage and bravery in battle. Stoick and Hiccup." Letting the compliment sink in for Matt, he continued "I can see that you are related to them just by the way you act."

"Thank you Eret." Matt said, grabbing the hand "Thank you for letting me recover on your ship…and for fighting with Hiccup."

Only smiling, Eret stepped away, letting Snotlout walk up to Matt.

Snotlout immediately started to say "So…since you're leaving, who's going to be taking care of Heather? I mean, I am the man for the job obviously, but..."

Frowning, Matt was about to say something until Heather appeared from behind Snotlout. Shoving him away, she said "I can take care of myself Snotlout."

"Can you?" Matt asked softly, a small grin appearing on his face. "Last I remembered, I had to save you twice…no wait, three times. I forgot that I found you on the island all alone."

"Shut up…" Heather said, trying to hide her smile.

Both Matt and Heather looked at each other, not wanting to let the moment pass. Leaning down, Matt kissed Heather, who in turn wrapped her arms around him. Holding each other, they never let go.

Astrid walked next to Hiccup with a small grin. Ready to pull a fast one on him, Astrid was surprised as Hiccup turned and grabbed her. Pulling her into him, he kissed her. "I forgot to tell you how much I love you." He whispered, pulling Astrid closer to him.

"I love you too Hiccup Haddock." Astrid replied with a smile.

Finally separating, Heather said "I'm going to miss you Matt." She looked down at the ground, unable to look at Matt in the eyes.

"Please don't make it harder than it already is…" Matt replied, choking back on his tears and moving her hair out of her eyes "I don't want to go…I just…I'm not supposed to be here…"

"I know…" Heather replied, forcing a smile on her face. Lifting Matt's chin, she said "Go. Remember that I told you that."

"You're always behind me and my choices huh?" Matt whispered back, this time the tears were flowing freely down his face. Looking to Heather's eyes, he choked out the words "I told you good-byes are too tough."

Smiling, Heather also let her tears run down her face. Taking a step back from him, Heather mouthed "I love you."

Sobbing, Matt mouthed back "I love you too."

At that, Heather turned and ran from the crowd. She couldn't stand it anymore, knowing there was a good chance that she would never see Matt again.

Watching her leave broke his heart. Matt was sobbing like a little kid who scraped his knee. Putting his hand over his eyes to try and stop the tears flowing, he couldn't stop feeling the guilt that he broke her heart as well.

"Matt…" Hiccup's voice sounded.

Sniffing his nose, Matt turned to see Hiccup next to him. "Yes Hiccup?"

"I can come to the cave with you…" Hiccup said quietly, walking closer to Matt "I can help you get your stuff sorted out."

Shaking his head, Matt replied "No. I don't think I can handle another good-bye." Reaching, he grabbed Hiccup and pulled him into a hug. "It's going to be hard enough to say bye to Wasatch."

Nodding, Hiccup began to cry as well. At that moment, a feeling came over the group. It was a feeling like someone had died, or was dying. It was an inexplicable sadness.

Pulling away from Hiccup, Matt whispered "Take care Hiccup. Don't let Dagur get the jump on you."

Forcing a smile, Hiccup said "Don't worry about me Matt…I'm already thinking of how to counter Death Killer and Dagur himself."

Nodding, Matt whispered "Good-bye Hiccup."

With that, Matt picked up the chest and limped to Wasatch. Wasatch, seeing Matt come up to him, lowered his head so that Matt could get on.

Sitting on Wasatch's neck instead of standing, Matt looked at all his friends. Waving good-bye, they all shouted different things in their own way.

"Take care Matt!" Fishlegs shouted.

"Don't worry about Heather!" Snotlout added, waving his arm frantically.

"Be safe Matt…" Astrid shouted, trying to keep herself from crying with Hiccup.

Hiccup didn't say anything. All he did was stand there and wave.

Sobbing uncontrollably, Matt flew Wasatch up into the air. Soaring above the village, Matt made way to the cave up in the main mountain. The wind on his wet face made him shiver with the cold. Ignoring it, he continued to fly towards the cave. Not saying anything to Wasatch, Matt let him land softly at the edge of the entrance. Dismounting slowly, Matt stumbled with the chest in his arms. Limping into the cave, he gently set down the chest and tucked it away in a small crevice. Looking up, he saw what he expected. The cave was open and ready to allow him back to where he came from. Staring at it for a second, he then walked over to Wasatch who almost looked at him like he was pleading with Matt not to go.

Reaching under the Skrill's neck, Matt began to unstrap his bindings off of Wasatch. "I'm sorry boy…" Lifting the bindings off, he continued "I'm so sorry that I couldn't ride you more than we wanted too…"

Wasatch just looked at him. Even though he couldn't speak, his eyes were saying a thousand words to Matt.

Sobbing, Matt pulled the dragon's head into his chest. Holding him for a second, Matt was shocked by the Skrill. Smiling through his tears, Matt drew his sword and tapped Wasatch a few times; shocking him back.

Sobbing, Matt stepped back from his friend. Turning around, he opened the chest and set the sword in it. Closing the lid, Matt then laid Wasatch's saddle over the chest. Sobbing, Matt turned to look at Wasatch who just stared back at him.

"Good-bye Wasatch." Matt whispered, starting to walk backwards.

The dragon roared back, replying to Matt's parting words.

Staring at the dragon, Matt walked backwards; not wanting to leave Wasatch. Finally, Matt was able to rip his gaze away and began to limp into the bigger cavern. Entering the cavern, Matt collapsed on his knees. Tears were flowing down his face like small stream. Screaming as loud as he could, Matt vented his frustration out. Falling on his hands, Matt kept on sobbing uncontrollably. Looking up, Matt began to crawl farther into the cave, fighting everything in his mind and body too not turn around.

* * *

Heather was sitting on a snowy hill, overlooking the ocean. Tears were still flowing down her face. Hearing something land behind her, she turned to see Hiccup and Astrid dismount from their dragons. Walking towards her, Hiccup asked "Heather…are you going to be ok?"

Forcing a smile, Heather replied "Ok? Yeah I'll be fine. The question is will I be the same? Not a chance."

Both Hiccup and Astrid sat down on both sides of her. Hiccup's face still had some tears on his face, while Astrid had a straight face, but had tear stains running down her cheeks. Staring at the ocean, Heather asked "Do you think he'll come back?"

Shaking his head, Hiccup replied "I don't know. I hope he does, but this could be the last time we see him." Turning to Heather, he added "Maybe he'll come back in another 6 years."

"I hope sooner than that." Heather responded, looking up into the overcast sky. "A lot can change in 6 years."

"But not the way you feel about each other." Astrid said with a smile "Trust me…you'll never forget the feelings you had with each other."

Nodding, Heather started to resume crying. Astrid then pulled her closer in a hug, trying to comfort her. Staring at the two, Hiccup then turned to look into the ocean below them. Staring at it blankly, Hiccup thought to himself "I guess he's really gone. I hope he has a normal life after what happened to his back…"

At that thought, Hiccup smiled and said out loud "Matt would be so mad at us right now."

"How do you figure?" Astrid asked, looking at Hiccup. Heather also turned to Hiccup.

"Look at us!" Hiccup said gesturing to the entire group "Matt would want us to move on! He'd be furious if he knew he was the reason we stopped exploring, training our dragons, living life." At that, Hiccup looked back at the ocean "We all know that he would want us to start living our normal, everyday lives…"

"If you're trying to make us feel better, it's not really working." Astrid said with an annoyed tone "But…I see what you mean. Matt would want us to do something that would take our minds off of him."

"So…who wants to fly to the cove?" Hiccup asked with a more natural smile "For Matt's sake."

"Only if I can come." A voice shouted above them.

Looking up in shock, the three stared in disbelief at what they saw.

Matt was riding Wasatch and slowly gliding in a big circle around them. He was wearing his armor and helmet. Letting Wasatch land in front of the group, the dragon roared with happiness. Letting Matt step off of him, Wasatch then radiated with lightning; unable to control his happiness.

"Matt!?" Hiccup shouted, staring at the approaching and limping friend "What are you doing? I thought that you were going home!"

Stopping a few feet from his surprised friends, Matt looked at all three of them.

Nodding, he said "There are a few reasons why I'm staying." Holding out his hand, he began to number them "First off. You guys would be lost without me. I mean look at you right now! Already falling apart." Looking at Berk, he added "I mean seriously. What would you do without me?"

Raising a second finger on his extended hand, he continued "Secondly. I'd lose my head the next time I came here. Last time it was my leg and now it's my back. I better play it safe and stay here." Looking down slightly he added "I also have no idea what I'd say to explain what happened to my back. I mean the leg was believable last time, because people break legs snowboarding all the time. But people getting hit by lightning and having burns all over their backs isn't as common as you might think when it comes to snowboarding." Sarcasm was rich in his voice, causing the three to chuckle a little.

"Third." Matt kept going "Wasatch. I owe him a lot more than just the few days of riding I put on him. He saved my life twice now, was thrashed by Death Killer because I made him fight when he was exhausted, and I didn't want to go and look for him again if I came back."

"Fourth." Matt added, breathing a little heavier "I want to stay. This is my home. Technically, I died six years ago when I had to leave here the first time. I never wanted to go back since this is my home now."

Holding out all five fingers on his hand, he finally said "Fifth and last reason. I can't leave here knowing that Dagur is still out there with Death Killer. Even though he really has no fleet to invade Berk, he will still come and try to hunt you all down. I can't leave knowing I'm not helping with the mess I created."

"Matt." Hiccup stepped in "Are you sure you want to stay? I mean, what about your family and friends?"

"They're right here." Matt said gesturing towards the three standing in front of him. Grabbing Hiccup's arm, he added "I'm sure Hiccup. I want to stay here. I want to live with you guys." Looking down slightly, he then asked "Hiccup, will you let me be a Viking here?"

Laughing, Hiccup hugged Matt and lifted him up in the air. "Matt! You've been a Viking! We've accepted you when you saved me from Alvin!"

Crying now, Matt broke free from Hiccup. Wincing in pain, Matt grabbed his helmet to pull it off. The tear stained face was now beaming with happiness. "Thank you Hiccup. This means more to me than anything!" Turning to Heather, he asked "I hope you don't mind tending my back for a few more weeks do you?"

Trying to stop the crying, Heather ran up to Matt and hugged him. Stifling the tears, she said "To see you shirtless again? Any time."

Smiling, Matt hugged her and spun her around. Saying out loud, he said "And I almost forgot! Your reason number six for me to stay."

"Well…" Astrid said, walking up to the couple "Want to go for a quick ride then? To celebrate?"

Shaking his leg with the brace still broken, Matt nodded. "My leg can hold out for one more ride." He then turned to Hiccup and asked "Mind if we go to the cave instead? I have something I'd like to do real quick. I would have done it before I came down, but I wanted you guys to be there when I did it."

Looking at him curiously, all three of them nodded and mounted their dragons. Matt quickly strapped in his bindings and then grabbed Heather. Pulling her up, he let her stand next to him. Holding onto her, he gestured Wasatch to fly.

Slowly rising into the air, Matt braced himself against Heather so that she would stand straight up; which almost caused his leg to give out. Carving left and right, Matt let Heather steer Wasatch. Laughing Heather held out her arms like she was flying on her own. Holding her, Matt whispered "I love you Heather…Thank you for everything…"

"Thank you Matt…Thank you for coming back…" Heather replied, turning to look at Matt in the eyes.

Smiling, Matt then shifted his bindings, guiding Wasatch land in the cave. After helping Heather step down, Matt then unstrapped himself from the bindings. Hiccup and Astrid both landed behind them. Dismounting, Hiccup asked "So…what did you need to do?"

"This." Matt said, grabbing his snowboard that was leaning against the cave wall. Walking out to the ledge of the cave, Matt stood in the snow. Looking at his three friends, he started to say out loud "Today is the day I die. I left my old life and take up this new one." Slamming the snowboard into the snow, he let it stand straight up and down in the snow. Stepping back from the snowboard, he continued. "I'm not a snowboarder anymore. I'm a dragon boarder!"

With that he walked back to the cave. Looking at his friends, he said "I know that was more dramatic than needed; but I had to not only let you know that I'm walking away from what I had, but it was so that I could tell myself that."

Hiccup smiled and said "You sure you don't want your board?"

Nodding, Matt said "I'm positive. Besides, it got busted when I was going down the avalanche; got cracked down the center of it. It's pretty much useless to me now."

Smiling, Hiccup said "We'll put a sign up here, just as a reminder to all of what you've done for Berk as well as your choice to stay here."

"If they get up here at least…" Matt said with a small smile. Walking to Wasatch, Matt suddenly stopped in his tracks. Staring to the back of the cave, Matt just stood there, not saying or pointing to anything.

"Matt?" Heather asked walking up to him slowly. Looking at what he was looking at, she gasped. Where there was once an opening, was now a solid wall.

"Well…I guess that does mean you're staying here." Astrid said, standing next to Matt.

Nodding, Matt then said "And you know what? I feel good about it." Looking at Hiccup who was standing behind him, he added "And that feeling means more to me than anything right now."

Smiling, Hiccup grabbed Matt in a hug, whispering "Welcome home Matt. Welcome home."

* * *

**Can't believe the story is already done! This one was a lot of fun to right. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did creating it! I do plan on making a third story, but I need to work out the plot line. Well, thank you for the support! Those that reviewed the story and PM'd me, an extra thank you. It helped me keep going, with a knowledge that you guys genuinely were interested throughout the story. Thank you.**

**Special thank you to dreaming-about-dragons, who helped me come up with a plot line for my next story that I plan on releasing in a month or so.**

**Well…until I write again!  
-Dustnblood**


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